Now that he’s retired, former Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins will talk about the game of basketball with anyone and anywhere he can. He’s even been dipping his toe in the reporting game, providing insight on the Kawhi Leonard free agency extravaganza, citing he has sources along the way.
In the course of discussing Leonard’s situation — who has yet to decide between the Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors — Perkins’ own days as a player have popped up. Now, it’s no secret Perkins didn’t have any free agency tours like Leonard or Kevin Durant did. But he did manage to get a contract extension from the Thunder back in 2010-11 before playing a minute for Oklahoma City.
While the four-year, $36 million extension seemed like an easy decision — which it was for Perkins himself — the big man had to convince his agent, Bob Myers, it was a good idea. Perkins detailed the experience in his appearance on the latest episode of ESPN‘s “Brian Windhorst and The Hoop Collective”:
I argued with Bob Myers, who was my agent, for 30 minutes. ‘Cause he was telling me, ‘Hey Perk, wait ’cause I got an offer from — I could get you in Golden State for five year[s] [$]55 [million].’ And I was like, ‘Five year[s], [$]55 [million] or take four year[s], [$]40 [million] right now. I’ll take the four year[s], [$]40 [million] right now.’
