Serge Ibaka Calls Out Kendrick Perkins Over ‘First Take’ Joke, Perk Responds

Kendrick Perkins has come into his own as an analyst after leaving the NBA, though his brand of hot takes has gained him some enemies along the way. Serge Ibaka is the latest athlete to take offense to the NBA Champion’s rhetoric, specifically due to Perkins suggesting he lied about his age during their time playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

During Monday’s (Dec. 26) edition of ESPN’s First Take, Perk discussed OKC’s 2012 trip to the NBA Finals, despite being a young team. After rattling off Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden’s ages, he brought up Ibaka. “Serge Ibaka is 21, although he was probably 30 at the time because we already know how certain individuals lie about their age. But we’re not about to get into that.”

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The two-time NBA blocks leader quote tweeted a now-deleted clip of the comment on Monday (Dec. 26) and went on a multi-Tweet rant aimed at the 38-year-old. “Hey @KendrickPerkins, I count my blessings every day and I don’t usually react to comments about me. But It’s disappointing to hear someone I shared a locker room with spreading misinformation to be relevant and get views on TV and social media.”

The Congolese player continued, “You can talk about my game If I don’t play well, I will never have a problem with that. But to talk extra for no reason is really not acceptable. It is disrespectful to me and I feel like it is disrespectful to many Africans who have to live with that unfounded accusation.”

Serge made things personal with the next Tweet: “If I was 30 in OKC I guess I am 45 now? The truth is I never lied about my age and I work extremely hard everyday without cheating and I have never been suspended. Everyone in the league knows that. You cheated and didn’t respect the game.”

Perkins followed up with a trio of tweets, telling Ibaka “Bro it was damn joke. Stop being so sensitive.” Thirteen minutes later, he seemingly had a change of heart when he said “Hey @sergeibaka my bad homie if I offended you. It’s was a joke! My bad if it made you feel some type of way!!! My apologies my brother.”

20 minutes later, he backpedaled and seemingly alluded to some deeper darker behavior from the Milwaukee Bucks forward himself. “Did you say spreading lies at @sergeibaka ? Please don’t get me started homie!!!! Please don’t. I’m not about to talk about those OKC days and what you were doing in that locker room. I will not… but you definitely need to stop because you know I KNOW!!!! Carry on tho…”

Time will tell whether their Twitter fingers reveal more about what the former teammates are referring to, but it doesn’t appear that Perk is willing to back down and is bringing his brash energy as a player to his life as a commentator.

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