Kendrick Perkins transitioned from a lengthy NBA career to the ESPN studio in 2018. He not only took a paycut in the process, but also a risk. Perkins had to learn on the job and adapt to being an ESPN studio analyst, which had a major downside. While on The Knuckleheads Podcast in combination with his mentor and friend, Kevin Garnett’s KG Certified, he revealed a year of hardship to fit in with the NBA sportscasting community. He claimed he didn’t even plan to get into the TV business but had to make some sacrifices when he actually did it.

“It happened by accident,” Perkins told KG on the podcast. “I never thought that I would be up on television talking the game or talking about the game.” He talks about his humble ‘country boy’ background growing up in Texas and feeling out of place with the basketball insiders and journalists. “For the first two years, I had to earn the respect of them and I had to earn the respect of the fans, right?”

Perkins entered the NBA from high school in 2003. After 15 seasons and one title, he retired in 2018. Almost immediately, he started appearing on ESPN and NBC Sports as an analyst. Today he’s a fixture on NBA Today, First Take, and Sportscenter among other shows. However, it took him about two years to earn his stripes and according to him, he’s still not there. “When I think about it, my first year and a half, I did that s**t for free. Like I didn’t get paid a dime, man. It was just like I did it for free.”  

Perk earned approximately $57 million over the course of his NBA career. He signed a contract extension with ESPN in 2021, which reportedly earned him $1 to $2 million per NBA season. His contract before that is not public information but by his account, he didn’t take a check in that period. His reason for that was to not have any regrets.

NBA career end filled Kendrick Perkins with regret

Before Perkins announced his retirement in 2019, the status of his NBA career was in limbo for a while. He didn’t appear in games enough but was working on conditioning and training. He was fielding interest from teams too but had not made a decision back then. The 39-year-old revealed now that teammates back then advised him to work out and extend his career by three more seasons. Not listening to that advice left him with regret.

“I had so many regrets as a player right in the summertime not being in the lab enough towards the end of my career.” He dismissed the advice to go back to Beaumont and do “Texas Things.” He, however, ended up at ESPN and decided, “No more regrets.  I’mma go all the way in.”

Hence Perkin takes up any assignment ESPN gives him, from playoffs to filling in for colleagues and flying between New York and LA. He remains polarizing but he’s aware of it and will stick to his authentic self.

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.