Kendrick Perkins Explains His Outburst at Son's AAU Game After Heated Incident
Kendrick Perkins has built a reputation for being direct and emotional on ESPN, and anyone who watches him regularly probably wasn't shocked when a video surfaced of him losing his cool at an AAU game. What most people didn't know was what actually set him off.
The clip, shared by TMZ Sports, showed the 6-foot-10 former NBA center being physically restrained while shouting at someone off-camera during a youth basketball game in Norman, Oklahoma.
Perkins coaches his son's squad, YPG Perkins, and they were in the middle of a tournament game against Swaveway Playaz when things got heated near the court.
EXCLUSIVE: Kendrick Perkins was held back in a heated argument at his son's AAU game. https://t.co/HWzMZte9anpic.twitter.com/nDwbnfMRYo
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) May 27, 2026
Kendrick Perkins Explains What Really Happened
Perkins addressed the incident on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday and laid out exactly what went down.
"It's my organization: Young Perkins Global," he said. "We're in a tournament, it's a heated game... They're going back and forth... We end up winning the game. Alright, cool. The other team, they had this guy that's like 7-foot, 400 pounds. After the game, he comes and he body slams one of my kids that play for my team. Then everybody's running around, they players, they're about to fight... So as a responsible owner of the organization, I get up and I'm like, 'Aye man! You need to chill.' I tell the coach of the other team, 'Hey, bro. Get your players, I got mine.' He pop off, 'I ain't getting nothing. Who the hell are you?' ... He got smart with me again, that's when I got pissed off."
Perkins also made clear the situation didn't end badly.
"Now what people didn't see was after that we had a little exchange, the others held us back. And then afterwards we dabbed up, he said, 'My bad,' I said 'My bad,' and we kept it moving," he added.
"Things got heated this weekend..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 27, 2026
That's my organization and we were in a tournament..
After the game one of my players got body slammed..
I had an exchange with the coach but after that we dapped up and kept it moving" ~ @KendrickPerkins#PMSLivepic.twitter.com/l6FyAky3Tq
Once the full picture came out, the reaction made a lot more sense. A player on his team getting body slammed after the final buzzer is going to draw a response from anyone standing courtside, let alone the guy running the organization.
Perkins Knows Heated Moments
It also helps to know who Kendrick Perkins is beyond the television set. The Texas native spent 14 seasons in the NBA before transitioning to broadcasting and was no stranger to physical and emotional moments during his playing days.
He spent eight of those seasons in Boston, where he worked his way into the starting lineup and averaged 6.4 points and 6.1 rebounds per game as the Celtics' physical anchor in the middle. That 2008 Boston Celtics roster went all the way, and Perkins was part of it.
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This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 5:33 AM.