Celtics

“To be completely honest, I don’t care (expletive).”

Kendrick Perkins isn’t exactly a popular figure in Boston these days.

Although he helped the Celtics win a title in 2008 as the team’s starting center, Perkins has established himself as persona non grata at TD Garden of late since becoming a basketball talking head. ball on ESPN.

The outspoken pundit has directed many of his critical comments toward the Celtics over the years, whether dismissing Jayson Tatum’s status as a franchise star, criticize Joe Mazzulla’s basketball IQ or declaring that “No one in the NBA is afraid” of Boston in 2024-25 after winning a title.

Given Perkins’ frosty relationship with Boston, it wasn’t much of a surprise that he didn’t attend the Celtics’ Banner Night festivities on Causeway Street last month.

While Perkins was not present, three other Celtics starters from that 2008 team Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were all honored on the floor.

But according to a report of the American Sun, Perkins was outright “banned” from TD Garden for raising the Boston banner, confirming the sentiment shared by Brian Scalabrine in June that Perkins does not have an “open arms thing” with the Celtics.

Appearing on the “All The Smoke” podcast this weekPerkins was asked about the rumor that he wasn’t allowed to attend Banner Night.

Perkins didn’t mince words in his response, while landing another jab at Scalabrine after calling him a “coward” in June.

“To be completely honest, I don’t give a damn. I don’t care (expletive),” Perkins told Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on the podcast. “I don’t care (expletive) because here’s the thing, I never take winning the championship for granted. But they act like you should be related to this situation or that this is your life.

“It was an honor to play for one of the most historic franchises. I never take that for granted. I think what ended up happening was – well, I know – I talked about Joe Mazzulla. They win the championship, and Brian Scalabrine, (expletive) Scal, he says, ‘Well, the door’s not just open for him to come back to the Celtic organization.’

Perkins continued to fire back at Scalabrine’s comments from the summer, downplaying Scalabrine’s role in Boston’s 2008 title run.

“Now those are two things I got out of it. First of all, Scal, who are you (expletive)? You’re the same (expletive) that when we won a championship was in street clothes, hurry up and put on your jersey so once we started taking pictures you could know you were part of the team,” Perkins said. “And I really like Scal, but I thought it should have been a phone conversation.”

It’s fair to say that the upcoming 2008 Celtics reunion might be a little frosty.

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Conor Ryan is a writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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