You never know what can happen once you post something on social media. For Kendrick Perkins, he was tweeting his thoughts on NBA games after his 14-year career came to an end. He never had an interest in being in the media or on television, but tweeting ended up getting him noticed.
On the latest episode of The Old Man and the Three with JJ Redick and Tommy Alter podcast, Perkins was a guest and said that his rise in media did not happen on purpose:
“It happened by accident. You know how they have those classes you can take in the summer while you are playing? I never took those. I never had interest in being on TV or in the media, but I always respected the media as a player.”
“All of a sudden, I get a DM on Twitter from a producer from Undisputed that said ‘Hey Perk, would you be interested in coming on Undisputed with Skip and Shannon? Hell yeah…I go down and I do Undisputed and they wanted me to stay an extra day,”
“They reached back out and were like hey, would you be interested in doing the remainder of the playoffs? I started off hot. I was right about everything, making bold predictions. Then, ESPN sent me a DM, hey do you want to come do the car wash in Bristol? My career all started on Twitter.”
Once Perkins was on ESPN, he remembered the first time he was on Get Up and a viral take he gave had the network ask him to come back:
“I go to Bristol and I remember my first time on Get Up, I go on and say Kawhi Leonard mimics Michael Jordan and the s**t went viral. All of a sudden, ESPN started calling me back.”
“I’m falling in love with TV. They are loving me. I was the only person that ever did First Take and Undisputed in one day. First Take was like we can’t have that no more. We are just going to lock you in for the remainder of the playoffs.”
Perkins and Redick got into a conversation about how they criticize current players since some players in the league used to be their teammates. Perkins has no problem doing it because he views himself as the same guy that he was when he was his locker room:
“The same Perk you see on TV is the same guy that I was in the locker room. I would say the same thing as far as holding them accountable….You have to be yourself. Don’t come into this media space trying to be something that you are not.”
The two of them also took the listener a little bit inside the curtain of First Take and Perkins mentioned he was asked to give a particular take during the 2021 NBA Finals:
“Doing First Take, you know it’s a debate show. When you are prepping for it, it’s all about where you disagree at to make great TV. Sometimes, I may play devil’s advocate. Last year, the Suns jumped on the Bucks, 2-0. I’m getting ready to go on First Take the next morning and they like hey Perk, would you sit up here and say the Suns are on the verge of being a dynasty? People still bring that up to this day.”
“What people don’t realize, good and bad engagement is what the head people at ESPN want. Even if you engage with the content and you may say look at this clown with this BS take, they want that.”
