Long after his days with the Boston Celtics, Kendrick Perkins has gone on to become one of the biggest talking heads in the NBA. Earlier this week, the longtime center sounded off on one of his former teammates after spouting a bold take about today’s game.
Earlier this week, Kevin Durant was a guest on LeBron James and Steve Nash’s “Mind the Game” podcast. During the episode, the now-Houston Rockets star opened up on how the game has evolved over time. He feels that offenses have gotten so advanced that smaller guards are going extinct because they can be easily targeted defensively. Durant did cite a few guards that are an exception to this notion because of their physical nature on defense, one of them being Miami Heat guard Davion Mitchell.
What do y’all think about small guards in today’s NBA? pic.twitter.com/DpIf0df8Uv
— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) July 3, 2025
Durant’s recent take sparked discourse across the basketball world, with Perkins being among those to chime in. While on the “Road Trippin’ Show” with Richard Jefferson, he openly disagreed with the former MVP’s remarks. Perkins feels it all has to do with defensive abilities, stating that players of all sizes get targeted in the modern game.
“They’re not extinct bro. There’s value there for little guards,” Perkins said. “By the way, little guards are not the only people that get picked on. We watched Luka get searched out every time down. We watched Karl-Anthony Towns, who by the way is nowhere near close to six-foot, get picked on. You search out mismatches, it ain’t about just the size.”
Small guards STILL have value‼️
New episode of RT out NOW on YouTube & Wondery?
➡️ https://t.co/SWLrDlPb1A➡️ https://t.co/uZOyh9xfkt pic.twitter.com/g9Fy1TmaXs
— Road Trippin’ Show? (@RoadTrippinPod) July 2, 2025
As most know, Durant and Perkins have a bit of history together from their time as teammates on the OKC Thunder. Nonetheless, the former player turned analyst did not hold back when it came to KD’s assessment of how the game is played today.
In a sense, Durant and Perkins are both right. While smaller guards do get attacked far more often today, it is not an every time down the floor thing. As Perkins stated, teams are going to scheme to exploit the best mismatch no matter the size of the player.
