ESPN Takes a Nasty Hit as Fans Thrash Kendrick Perkins After LeBron James Outburst on National TV

It looks like Kendrick Perkins is having a hard time coping with the fact that LeBron James has unfollowed him on Instagram. Three days back, the Boston Celtics veteran wrote on Twitter about the above issue, “Everybody didn’t follow Jesus, I’ll be ok“, conveying to his fans that it was not a big deal. However, on ESPN’s First Take today, Perkins spent a solid few minutes on live television to call out James for unfollowing him. Big Perk termed the 4x champion as “sensitive“ and fans on social media were not having it, as they ultimately pinned the blame on the ESPN broadcast. 

Perkins shared with Stephen. A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe on First Take, “Imagine unfollowing me on Twitter, but you still got to wake up and watch me on TV every day… I think LeBron James got sensitive over the last couple of weeks because I’ve been calling him out.”  

Perkins called out the King for the firing of Darvin Ham, the head coaching vacancy, and Bronny James’ controversial draft situation, over the last few weeks, which he believes is the reason behind unfollowing him on Instagram. Perkins also boldly claimed that he has backed the Los Angeles Lakers superstar on several occasions, and that, he and Shannon Sharpe are the only analysts to do so. 

The 2008 champion’s two bits on being unfollowed by the former AAU basketball teammate were found to be petty the fans. They ultimately blamed ESPN and termed First Take as a “horrid“ show for letting Perkins speak about an NBA player unfollowing him. 

Kendrick Perkins’ rant on LeBron James makes ESPN the scapegoat

Fans did not hold back on Perkins and especially ESPN, for their coverage of sports lately. Fans believe ESPN was a lot about core sports and a detailed analysis of the subject matter. However, of late, they tend to cover personal topics like the one herein, which fans are not entertained about. A fan wrote on X, “Did everyone else randomly stop watching ESPN like I did? I used to watch it every day, but now I feel like the vibes are off and I can’t stand it.”

Some even believe that ESPN has become a bit too informal. Looking at the coverage done by Turner Sports, and other networks, it’s safe to say ESPN focuses a lot on non-sport matters. A fan compared First Take with Inside the NBA, which is expected to be discontinued soon.“We’re supposed to watch this instead of Inside the NBA? If Lebron unfollowed Shaq they would talk about it for 3 minutes while simultaneously creating the funniest bit of the year“

LeBron James has often been a topic of conversation at First Take. From analysing James’ comments to more recent LeBron-Bronny nepotism criticism, fans believes ESPN’s highly focused content on the star could pose a problem when he calls it quits. However, fans still believe the multi-billion broadcast will find a way to keep James relevant. A user shared, “ESPN is cooked after he retires. They’ll probably still find a way to talk about him every day tho“

Perkins was not the only one who got blamed. Stephen. A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe were dragged in too, as a fan commented, “ESPN and first take have completely lost the plot. Show might get ratings but it affects people’s perception of the network. Perk and SAS are awful at their jobs.”

Charles Barkley also shared his frustration on ESPN a few days back in an interview with Dan Dakich. He was furious that the broadcast was throwing the spotlight on Dan Hurley’s potential move to LA, instead of covering the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals. A fan spoke along similar lines, “ESPN has ceased to be the Worldwide Leader in Sports and has basically become high school gossip drama at this point“. So, that sums up how the NBA world feels about First Take and ESPN of late. Let’s see if it brings a change it the format. 

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video: