Kendrick Perkins said Serge Ibaka lied about his age. Ibaka wasn’t having it.
On “First Take”, Perkins talked about being part of the young Oklahoma City Thunder, who went to the NBA Finals in 2012. And he took a shot at Ibaka.
“We was a young team that actually went to the NBA Finals,” Perkins told J.J. Redick. “And you know what every body kept saying? Kevin Durant is only 23 years of age. Russell Westbrook is only 22. James Harden is 22. Serge Ibaka is 21 although he was probably 30 at the time. Because we already know about how certain individuals lie about their age, but we’re not going to get into that.”
Ibaka was not amused.
In response to a since-deleted clip of Perkins’ “joke,” Ibaka expressed disappointment in his former OKC teammate for perpetuating what has been a common stereotype about players from Africa being older than their listed ages.
Ibaka has been dealing with conspiracy theories about his age for years, and publicly addressed the age rumors in 2017.
Brazzaville, Ibaka’s hometown, is a city of 1.8 million people and the capital of the Republic of Congo. The idea that the city wouldn’t have birth records and administration is prejudicial and honestly offensive to Ibaka and other African players. Besides, Ibaka is in the middle of his 14th NBA season – is that the longevity one would expect from a player who was secretly 30 years old in 2012?
Ibaka went on to accuse Perkins of back-stabbing his teammates with the media in Oklahoma City, and “spreading lies” about Durant and Westbrook.
Accusing African players of lying about their ages has been going on for decades. Dikembe Mutombo had finally had enough in 2007 – his 16th season in the NBA.
“When people think your father is a liar, it makes you look bad in front of your children,” Mutombo told ESPN. “Kids don’t know when it’s a joke and when it’s not a joke. It never bothered me before, but it starts bothering me more as I’m getting questions from my daughter.”
For his part, Perkins’ tone changed dramatically with each response. First, he went with, “It’s just a joke!”
Then Perkins decided to give a seemingly-heartfelt apology, though of the “Sorry you got offended” variety.
18 minutes later, Perkins’ contrition had disappeared and he attacked Ibaka, making murky allegations about his locker room behavior.
Ironically, it’s exactly the behavior Ibaka criticized – “breaking locker room code” and “spreading lies” about former teammates. However, that’s all Perkins has. No one would know who Kendrick Perkins was if he hadn’t spent his NBA career surrounded by far more famous and talented players – the group in OKC, Kevin Garnet, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen in Boston, and then some final years warming the bench for LeBron James’ Cavaliers.
Serge Ibaka was a better player than Kendrick Perkins at every age. He’s proving to be classier too.
