Despite Friction With Lebron, Kendrick Perkins Sees Commercial Silver Lining With Bronny James Being Drafted by Lakers

First, he didn’t want to see all the Bronny news. Now he’s picturing an entire ad campaign starring LeBron and Bronny? Kendrick Perkins is giving out some mixed signals there. After going unselected in the first round, the Lakers picked Bronny James 55th overall in the second round. He wasn’t in New York for it but instead celebrated with his family. The last thing on the James family’s mind is a supposed beef with Perk. The ESPN analyst got the social media equivalent of a breakup from LeBron James and by most observers’ opinion, the argument isn’t resolved. So is Perkins’ latest comment an olive branch.

His reaction to Bronny’s selection was not analytical but more fantastical. He wrote, “Can you imagine what the Nike Campaign is about to look like with Bron and Bronny? MONUMENTAL,” on X, even though LeBron has taken measures to ignore it.

Objectively, he’s not wrong. LeBron has a lifetime deal with Nike and Bronny has his own NIL experience with the sneaker giant. They’ve made history as the first father-son combination at Lakers (if the King decides to decline his player option and stays for the next season before Saturday). Nike won’t miss out on being a part of that too.

Nike was prepared too. It dropped a congratulatory ad as soon as Lakers GM, Rob Pelinka called Bronny’s name. “Pressure was never a question… when passion has always been the answer,” the Nike social media pages said to go with a picture of child Bronny shooting a basketball on an NBA court alongside the 19-year-old history-maker.

Nike’s congratulatory message is getting flooded with demands to release official Bronny sneakers sooner. On the contrary, Perk’s message was not so well-received among followers. For good reason too.

Perk asked and he received

A month before the draft, Bronny was getting a lot of attention across sports media which didn’t sit well with Perkins. He called out all media outlets, including his own employers at ESPN, for the excessive coverage on Bronny. “We have to stop as the media and everyone else shining the light on Bronny because it’s other players that deserve our attention,” he said in a longer rant. He felt that Bronny didn’t deserve that much attention as a projected fringe second round pick a month ago.

Shortly after his rant, he targeted Bronny’s dad. He accused LeBron of eclipsing the NBA Finals. In response, James unfollowed Perkins on X. That just upped his tirade on First Take where he called Bron “sensitive” to criticism. He doubled down and claimed that even if he unfollowed him online, Bron would have to listen to his rants on TV.

That could be why Perkins saved the Nike remark for X. The tough stuff could be coming on TV next.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.