Kendrick Perkins can live with being dunked on as part of the game. He can even handle being tweeted about being dunked on.
But LeBron James' Twitter reaction to Blake Griffin's did-you-see-that dunk over Perkins didn't sit well with the Oklahoma City Thunder center.
Perkins found himself in Griffin's career highlight reel when the Los Angeles Clippers forward soared over him, absorbed contact and threw the ball down into the basket, fingers grazing the rim, in the Clippers' 112-100 win Jan. 30.
Perkins then found himself on Twitter, where James, among others, could not contain his amazement over what he had seen.
"Dunk of the Year! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!!! Wow! I guess I'm No. 2 now. Move over #6," James tweeted, apparently referring to his own dunk the day before over Chicago Bulls point guard John Lucas III being relegated behind Griffin's poster-quality jam.
Perkins told Yahoo! Sports that he didn't appreciate that.
"You don't see Kobe (Bryant) tweeting," Perkins said, according to the report. "You don't see Michael Jordan tweeting. If you're an elite player, plays like that don't excite you."
"At the end of the day, the guys who are playing for the right reasons who are trying to win championships are not worrying about one play. They also are not tweeting about themselves talking about going down to No. 2," Perkins added, according to the report. "I just feel (James) is always looking for attention and he wants the world to like him."
Perkins told Yahoo! Sports he respected Griffin for not making a spectacle of the moment. But if Griffin goes at the rim again the next time the Clippers and Thunder meet, Perkins said he won't back down.
"If I was in the same position, in the same rotation, I'm going to jump again and again and again," Perkins said, according to Yahoo! Sports. "A lot of people are afraid of humiliation or don't know how to handle embarrassment or would even get embarrassed. I don't care."
"That's my job," Perkins added, according to the report. "How will my teammates look at me if next time I just back out of the way and just let him dunk when I'm supposed to be defensive-minded, a shot-blocker? That would be a coward move on me. He'd just have to dunk on me again."
But LeBron James' Twitter reaction to Blake Griffin's did-you-see-that dunk over Perkins didn't sit well with the Oklahoma City Thunder center.
Perkins found himself in Griffin's career highlight reel when the Los Angeles Clippers forward soared over him, absorbed contact and threw the ball down into the basket, fingers grazing the rim, in the Clippers' 112-100 win Jan. 30.
Perkins then found himself on Twitter, where James, among others, could not contain his amazement over what he had seen.
"Dunk of the Year! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!!! Wow! I guess I'm No. 2 now. Move over #6," James tweeted, apparently referring to his own dunk the day before over Chicago Bulls point guard John Lucas III being relegated behind Griffin's poster-quality jam.
Perkins told Yahoo! Sports that he didn't appreciate that.
"You don't see Kobe (Bryant) tweeting," Perkins said, according to the report. "You don't see Michael Jordan tweeting. If you're an elite player, plays like that don't excite you."
"At the end of the day, the guys who are playing for the right reasons who are trying to win championships are not worrying about one play. They also are not tweeting about themselves talking about going down to No. 2," Perkins added, according to the report. "I just feel (James) is always looking for attention and he wants the world to like him."
Perkins told Yahoo! Sports he respected Griffin for not making a spectacle of the moment. But if Griffin goes at the rim again the next time the Clippers and Thunder meet, Perkins said he won't back down.
"If I was in the same position, in the same rotation, I'm going to jump again and again and again," Perkins said, according to Yahoo! Sports. "A lot of people are afraid of humiliation or don't know how to handle embarrassment or would even get embarrassed. I don't care."
"That's my job," Perkins added, according to the report. "How will my teammates look at me if next time I just back out of the way and just let him dunk when I'm supposed to be defensive-minded, a shot-blocker? That would be a coward move on me. He'd just have to dunk on me again."
This will be a great match-up. When's Thunder vs Heat game?