Kendrick Perkins' Anti-Jokic Cross trigger the entire NBA reporting from ESPN

For a network that will soon pay $2.6 billion a year for rights to the NBA, one would think ESPN wouldn’t let one emotionally-triggered commentator undermine its entire coverage of the league. Yet that’s exactly what ESPN is doing by continuing to use Kendrick Perkins as its lead NBA analyst.

Imagine if Kirk Herbstreit had a vendetta against a top black college athlete and let his personal feelings influence his analysis of that player. Or if Terry Bradshaw were so bothered by the success of a black quarterback that he argued with strawmen online just to discredit Lamar Jackson. Those hypotheticals are akin to how Perkins covers Nikola Jokic, the consensus best player in the NBA.

Perkins’ issues with Jokic are well-documented. In short, he got it in his head a few years ago that Jokic is only good for a white player, and his success and MVPs are the result of an anti-black bias within the NBA media.

Perkins has had an NBA MVP vote for four seasons, during which Jokic has won three MVPs. However, he has never once cast a top-three ballot for Jokic.

Imagine that.

His declaration about Jokic and white privilege is so absurd that even the most poorly researched analyst could swiftly debunk it. But the facts haven’t stopped Perkins from continuing his crusade against the NBA’s top player.

Tuesday night, Perkins appeared postgame on ESPN and blamed Jokic for the Nuggets’ Game 5 loss to the Thunder. He considered his argument so strong that he then posted on social media.

“Bron gets tired at 40 years old and people question his greatness… but Jokic gets tired and its he needs more help. We gotta stop moving goal post.”

Dammnit, stop moving goal post.

Perkins is angered by the idea that Jokic’s teammates let him down. Here are some facts: In the fourth quarter, Jokic went four for six with 13 points. His teammates went one for fifteen with six points.

In other words, his teammates made one – one! – field goal the entire fourth quarter.

So, uh, yes. The strawmen claiming Jokic needed more help are correct.

The comparison to James is also puzzling when you consider that Jokic has never played with another All-Star. Not once. LeBron has played with several future Hall of Famers, including Luka Doncic this season.

Speaking of LeBron, Perkins’ coverage of Jokic has drawn comparisons to how Skip Bayless covered James. But those comparisons are not accurate. Bayless’ coverage of LeBron was never personal. He was just trying to capitalize on the Jordan vs. LeBron debate, and did so with great success.

Meanwhile, Perkins’ bias against Jokic is entirely personal. And racial.

Put simply, ESPN would have fired Perkins years ago for these shenanigans if the roles were reversed. Meaning, if he were white and Jokic were black. Yet he shouts about “white privilege” on-air. 

It’s also telling the NBA hasn’t stepped in. 

Under David Stern, the NBA didn’t allow ESPN to feature Stephen A. Smith on the network’s bumper coverage, like “NBA Countdown.” The league felt Smith would use the NBA’s pre- and post-game platforms to settle scores with players he liked and didn’t. That’s exactly what Perkins is doing now.

In doing so, he has discredited ESPN’s otherwise stellar coverage of the NBA playoffs.

Of all the people in America who can analyze the NBA, the fact that ESPN has settled on this temperamental buffoon is staggering. It’s as if the network wants this type of commentary to represent its nearly $3 billion-a-year investment in the NBA.

That’s on ESPN, as much as it is Perkins