Working as an analyst on live TV is by no means an easy task, yet somehow Kendrick Perkins continues to make it seem more and more difficult every time he tries to get a point via ESPN.
Perkins’ latest scratch came in the form of an odd, rambling shot on today’s hot topic: Draymond Green’s controversial expulsion From game 1 of the Warriors-Grizzlies series.
After admitting he wasn’t the cleanest of players during his career, Perkins invited the Green and the Warriors to try and play the victim, accusing them of the most appalling crime of mild hypocrisy.
“Draymond is not a doll,” Perkins said. “Like, he has a high IQ, so he knows what he’s doing and he knows what to do and what not to do. The only problem I have with warriors is why they’re trying to act like they’re the victims here. They’re not the victims. Draymond Green made a blatant mistake 2.”
Perkins then attempted to point out the discrepancy between the way the Warriors acted upon Green’s expulsion, and how they acted afterwards. Marcus Smart injured Steve Curry’s ankle While diving to get a loose ball. The alleged hypocrisy in Perkins’ head is that the Warriors believed Greene’s physical play should not have been punished, while gross wrongdoing against Dubs should be prosecuted to the fullest extent permitted by law.
“Look, that’s when he goes back to the point where Marcus Smart dove into the loose ball and Steve Kerr had a panic attack and was so frustrated on the sideline, claiming that Marcus Smart did it on purpose,” Perkins added with insult. “But all of a sudden you reach this moment, and suddenly they want the wolf to cry.”
Then he delivered the agonizing speech to his boisterous talk: “No one wants to hold the Golden State to account, no one!”
This completely disconnected scene follows a very simple hot-take formula: when too many people believe one thing, someone presents the opposite viewpoint as actually being the correct way to look at things. Such a move in turn creates a cycle of anger that feeds into the content of other news sources (including SFGATE!) because the media is Ouroboros. Reporters, current players, former officials and live broadcasters generally agree that Green shouldn’t be fired? What if he told you that Green knew what he was doing and the Warriors were crying about this whole thing instead?
In the grand scheme of things, it makes sense as to why this happens – “this” is the perennial mistake Perkins makes to the audience with the word authority and an alleged point. Contrasting opinions pay big bucks in outlets like ESPN, for the ensuing conversation, social media interactions and any other unfamiliar metrics that media companies believe in determine whether or not something is good for business.
Part of what helps make this approach work is the support of others, so that conflicting opinions can have some sense of basic legitimacy when the person making the point doesn’t have much to work with. Which is why you can see the tweet pushes this hot shot as “.@KendrickPerkins not holding back warriors” along with the blushing face emoji, and why everyone in the studio is slamming a pointless argument that’s fairly easy to refute. The first step in making a decision is to convince others that they feel wrong in believing otherwise.
However, the most important part of amplifying a conflicting viewpoint, something that is often overlooked in this case, is that it needs to be coherent. What Perkins said on national television was not.
What exactly are warriors called here? Are they annoyed that one of their best players was kicked out of a playoff game over a call that many NBA players found ridiculous? The argument of “victims” is meaningless. Green himself said he sees his reputation.AccoladeHe indicated that he did not believe he was being attacked.
How did the Dubs react when their co-star, Steve Curry, was injured? The “victim” offensive line is also erased, due to Golden State players They got out of their way To play down the idea that Smart’s play was sloppy.
This only leaves the strange idea that warriors are not being held sufficiently accountable. But why, exactly, should they be held accountable, and who fails to maintain that accountability? There would probably be an argument for this if the Warriors lost Game 1 and blamed those responsible for the loss, but since that didn’t happen on Sunday, there is no convincing answer to that question. For what it’s worth, SFGATE has pointed out When the things that warriors Say or Act be Honestly silly, but Perkins may not have read our posts. Perhaps the only site he reads is the one that pays him, which means the people who don’t do their jobs are his workers-…don’t care.
Distinguishing oneself in the crowded NBA media space as a thought-provider is a difficult task. However, even when you’re given a stint as a highly viewed analyst on ESPN, that doesn’t mean that the one you’ll throw at the wall will stand still.