Kendrick Perkins criticized NBA officiating during an appearance on *The Pat McAfee Show*, highlighting a serious problem with refs. His comments followed a controversial Game 2 playoff matchup between the Lakers and Thunder that drew criticism from coaches and analysts alike.
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Credit: ESPN
ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins went off about the leagueās officiating during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday.
The comments came after Thursday nightās Game 2 of the second-round playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder, which featured officiating that drew plenty of criticism from Lakers head coach JJ Redick and the basketball world.
Stan Van Gundy called out a ābig-time acting jobā on a flop from Oklahoma Cityās Chet Holmgren that was initially ruled an offensive foul on the Lakersā Deandre Ayton. āThatās an absolute flop,ā Van Gundy said while serving as the gameās color commentator for Prime Video. āI hope they donāt give him this call, because we need to get rid of the flops.ā
On Friday morning, ESPNās Jay Williams said, āLast night was maybe one of the worst officiating games Iāve seen in a long time.ā
Perkins, an NBA champion with the Boston Celtics and a starting big man with the Thunder over his 14-year career, told McAfee, āWe have a problem. We have a serious problem right now, and that game last night highlighted it.ā
Kendrick Perkins expressed strong criticism of NBA officiating, labeling it a serious problem during his appearance on *The Pat McAfee Show*.
Perkins' comments were prompted by controversial officiating during Game 2 of the playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick and analyst Stan Van Gundy also criticized the officiating, particularly calling out a flop by Oklahoma City's Chet Holmgren.
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āI love Adam Silver,ā Perkins said. āI think heās the best commissioner in sports. I love that heās a man of the people. And with that being said, heās going to have to listen to the people. They have a lot of upset fans that are on the internet, that were watching the game, that didnāt like the way that that game was called last night. And Iām going to be honest with you, I didnāt either. As a matter of fact, I hated it. Every single moment of it. There was nothing but complaining. There was a lot of flopping going on. It was a lot of no-calls.ā
āWhen you get players, and this has been a trend throughout the postseason, calling out officiating, you have to address it,ā Perkins explained. āAnd itās not just addressing the players with fines; thatās one thing. But the officials gotta have some level of accountability. And also, you donāt want to get to the point where fans are sitting up here talking about the game as rigged. Because we do have to take in mind that, whatās one of the biggest moneymakers out there? Betting. Sports betting. So, we donāt want to start messing and having fans thinking that thereās something going on with integrity of the game.ā
āSo, youāve got to clean up this flopping nonsense,ā Perkins continued. āYou have to clean it up. Last night, I thought it was extremely bad. I thought OKC, all across the board, this was one of their worst moments, in my opinion. You know how I feel about OKC. You know how I feel about [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander]. But damn it, Iāve got to call it like I see it. Facts over feelings.ā
This is sure to remain a huge storyline throughout the 2026 NBA Playoffs, especially if the officiating doesnāt get considerably better.
The post Kendrick Perkins sounds off on āserious problemā with NBA refs appeared first on Awful Announcing.