The bad news for Kendrick Perkins: He was cut from the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, snuffing out an attempt at an NBA comeback.
The good news for Kendrick Perkins: He could wind up with a gig on the Cavs’ coaching staff.
According to Cleveland.com, Tyronn Lue has more or less promised Perkins a job.
“We’ve already talked about that,” Lue said after the Cavs’ 113-106 win over the Orlando Magic. “I think Perk was great because he holds everybody accountable. He plays the right way, tries to do the right thing every single day.
“You need a guy like that around. A guy who’s going to be the right person for the team, not worrying about himself, not being caught up in all his own personal things and will help the team out in any way he can.”
Perkins is looking to get back into the NBA after sitting out all of last season. Per Cleveland.com, he was invited to Cavs’ camp “as a courtesy to showcase himself,” not because he ever had a serious chance to make the team. He appeared in three preseason games, scoring 12 points and pulling down 11 rebounds in 35 minutes, and will now attempt to catch on with another team.
If this is the end for Perkins, he had quite a career. He established himself as one of the toughest and fiercest centers in the league over a 13-year run and will never again buy a drink in Boston, having started for the Celtics’ 2008 NBA title-winning team.
Unlike most NBA players who wash out of the league after solid careers, Perk seems to have a pretty solid back-up plan, with the option of latching onto the staff of a championship contender. It figures the Cavs would want to keep him around given his reputation as the NBA’s best teammate and his friendship with Lue and LeBron James.
Though we may have seen the last of Kendrick Perkins as a basketball player, it looks like we’ll see him again around the league, potentially for a long time.