April 17, 2025 • 10 mins
Welcome to "The Morning Kickoff Show" with Mike "Hardball" Hardge & "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry. The guys have a conversation with ESPNs Kendrick Perkis as they talk about the NBA Play In games so far and projecting the first round. They discuss the Bulls failing to show up against the Heat, he gives his thoughts on Mavs if they play Thunder & his thoughts on a Warriors vs Rockets series.You can hear it all here on “The Morning Kickoff Show!”
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Let's just sit. Let let you and you know the people,
let we take him do with just lead the pay leg.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
And your welcome back to the morning kickoff. As you
can hear right there, it is a special segment called
the Legends of the Locker Room. In what better way
than have a legend of the locker room than bringing
somebody from the great state of Texas as we all
like to claim it as home. He is the one
(00:47):
and only Kendrick Perkins. How you doing, big fella, I'm
doing well, man.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
How y'all doing? Happy? What today? Happy Thursday?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Happy Thursday? And your your schedule gets you confused every
day because you are all over the place and easy.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
To be seen.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
And we wanted to get right into the conversation because
this NBA season has been filled with so many different turns,
going back to Luca Lebron in his two hundred season
in the NBA and the way that everything is playing
out this year. Did you see it being this wild
(01:25):
and Willie heading into the season.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
I didn't.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I didn't, and I think you know everything everything took
a turn, you know when Luca was traded, well, it
actually started with Jimmy Butler one out of Miami, and
then all of a sudden, you start seeing the disappointments
around the league, right the Philadelphia seventy six ers because
(01:50):
of jury, the Phoenix Suns because they couldn't get their
chemistry right, lack of leadership, and all of a sudden,
we see Luca get traded and were like, hold on, okay,
we got action.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Kendrick.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
My thing is, did you see the Chicago game last night?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
I did.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
We're how embarrassed would you be if you were a
former Bull and you had to watch your team go
out and play that port?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Well, I mean I would be. I would be embarrassed.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
But you know, you gotta have a you have to
have a different type of mindset, uh, in order to
battle out of being in a player in tournament, meaning
being in that ninth to tenth spot having to play
again just to get to the postseason.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
The mental toughness to know.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
That you're getting to fighting for an eight spot, and
then uh, you know, gotta possibly faith faith, you know,
see the Cleveland caval lives when you probably don't have
a shot, your mental toughness have to be there. And
I called the night on Sports Center before the game
even happened. I said the Miami he is gonna win
(03:06):
this game because they've been in this position before, right
and that he coach is gonna kick in that meltal toughness.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And you know, if you're a Bulls.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Fan, at some point, you gotta be sick and tired of,
you know, straddling the fence or should I say, being
in the middle. You're either trying to compete for a
title or you trying to build for the future. And
right now, the pieces that they have don't tell me
that they're.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Doing either one of them.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
You know, it's like, Okay, why am I sitting up
here having this last stretch of games like the Bulls
had in the regular season, where they were sitting up
here winning games when maybe they could have set Kobe White.
You know, I don't want to use the word tank
and say, you know what, let us try to strike
something in this drought. So I know the Bulls fans
(03:57):
they gotta be there frustrated for us the lack the
effort last night, but they've been frustrated for the last
six or seven years, to be honest with you, because
it's just that we don't want to be in the
middle with the Chicago Bulls. We're about championships. We need
a true franchise guy in here that's gonna be able
(04:17):
to take us to.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
The promise Land.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I'm not saying that Kobe White future is not bright,
but he's not the guy that you're going to build
a round. No, Kendrick whed Last night, we got to
see Dallas play at a really high level and I
made this statement.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I hung my hat on it.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
That I felt like that, go ahead, No, I'm listening
that I felt like Dallas could give OKC a run.
And my heart said, man, you crazy. What do you
think about that? Anthony Davis played like a wild man.
If he can play like that and Klay Thompson can
(04:57):
step up like that, I feel like you can give a
OKAC a run.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
What what let me say is.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I believe that they're gonna beat the Memphis Grises, okay,
but they're gonna lose if they once they do. If
they do, they're going to lose it to OKC in five.
And here's why you need perimeter play. You need that
guard that's gonna be able to put pressure on the
Oklahoma City defense, of that number one defense and all
(05:29):
those guys on the perimeter's perimeter could slide those puppies. Now,
when I look at the front court of Dallas, they
give you LIFs right, the most athletic front court, to me,
the most the best defensive front front court in Anthony
Davis dare you gaffled?
Speaker 1 (05:46):
And Derrick Lovely.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
But again, when you talk about going against the best
in the league, best in the Western Conference, you gotta
have that guy that could get buckets. And I understand
Clay got off yesterday, but that's not gonna happen against
Oklahoma City.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
You know they have five or six dogs on.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
The perimeter that's gonna get on your ass like back pockets.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Show for show, we're talking. We're talking to Kendrick Perkins
of ESPN. He is one of the best that's out
there and he always gives it to you raw and uncut.
But I wanted to ask you this because the conversation
you brought up earlier about Jimmy Butler going to Golden State.
He is somebody that playoff. Jimmy decided to show up
(06:34):
just the other day. But again, the journey is gonna
be a little bit harder because they have to be
able to go out there and do it night in
and night out, and going up against them young ThunderCats
that I like in Houston, it's gonna be tough for
them to be able to do that every single night.
But looking at h Town, what do you like about
(06:55):
that team and do you think they can pull it.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Off against the Warriors? I do. I actually had this
series won seven games.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I give a slight dish to the Golden State Warriors
because they have two closers and the experience.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
But I will say this the Rockets, their future is
extremely bright.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
I call Aftershan goon Affrashan Goon, Baby Jokic, I call
you know, I'm looking at Amen Thompson, who I believe,
in possibly the next two to three years, could be
the best two way player in the game. You know,
they have the experience, championship experience in the locker room
and on the floor. Jeff Green and Fred Van Bleek,
(07:42):
and so I'm looking at the wild card. This is
a time for Jalen Green. He's auditioning right now at
the moment when you think about all what they're talking about,
what they're saying, you know them Katie rumors he's gonna
be involved with that. If they do happened to trade
for Kevin Durant this summer, And so when I'm looking
(08:05):
at Jalen Green, I'm looking at him to go out
there and be that guy that's gonna be be able
to audition and show that he could go toe to
toe with the best of them if it gets late
in the fourth quarter. But I'm gonna say this about
Golden State, Steve Kerky, keep playing if you want to,
and don't play Jonathan Kamena.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
They gonna get there behind sid Home.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Jonathan Kaminga athleticism is needed in this series. Jonathan Kaminga
gets Golden State this season average twenty five points.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
His stuff is really really needed.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
His his body and what he brings to the table
is gonna be.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Needed in this series. If Steve Steve.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Kirk got to find a way to not only get
him on the floor, but get his mental back.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You have a young guy that you know is up up.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
On the verge of getting a contract, of fighting to
get a car track a big contract, and two of
the most important games of the season, Steve Kerr goes
to him before you know the Clippers.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Game and tell him that he's out of the rotation.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
So now you're playing against the athletic Rockets team, which
you need athleticism because you know, playing game against mithis
Jimmy and Steps. They had eighty points, so you you
gotta have somebody that's gonna take that pressure off of them.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
And I think that guy is Joern than Cominger.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Wow, Kendrick, I know that I'm gonna get away from
the NBA. Were about to We're about to be up
against it. Uh, your son. I want to make an
early pitch to get him to the University of Texas. Hey, look,
I'll tell you what. I would love to have him
(09:53):
close to Holmes. Well, you know you got Kim Folk
in Austin, so you're all right, yup. I would love
to have them close to home. I will say I'm
a little disappointed.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
They just fired.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
They just fired one of my day ones, Brandon Chappelle
that I went to high school with, which he's probably
he's land and going land in Arizona the day. But
Stoehart feelings Wilverstone want to go.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
I'm with you. I love it. I love it man.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
As always, Kendrick, we appreciate you taking the time. I
know you're busy, man, but thank you for taking the
time and we hope to talk to you a little
bit later as these playoffs start to heat up.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Okay, thank you so much. Appreciate y'all listenings. Tak y'all
for having.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
No problem Legends of the Locker Room segment with Kendrick Perkins.
Make sure you get over to our podcast page. My boy, Marcus,
I have that turned up for us real
Let's just sit. Let let you and you know the people,
let we take him do with just lead the pay leg.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
And your welcome back to the morning kickoff. As you
can hear right there, it is a special segment called
the Legends of the Locker Room. In what better way
than have a legend of the locker room than bringing
somebody from the great state of Texas as we all
like to claim it as home. He is the one
(00:47):
and only Kendrick Perkins. How you doing, big fella, I'm
doing well, man.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
How y'all doing? Happy? What today? Happy Thursday?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Happy Thursday? And your your schedule gets you confused every
day because you are all over the place and easy.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
To be seen.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
And we wanted to get right into the conversation because
this NBA season has been filled with so many different turns,
going back to Luca Lebron in his two hundred season
in the NBA and the way that everything is playing
out this year. Did you see it being this wild
(01:25):
and Willie heading into the season.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
I didn't.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I didn't, and I think you know everything everything took
a turn, you know when Luca was traded, well, it
actually started with Jimmy Butler one out of Miami, and
then all of a sudden, you start seeing the disappointments
around the league, right the Philadelphia seventy six ers because
(01:50):
of jury, the Phoenix Suns because they couldn't get their
chemistry right, lack of leadership, and all of a sudden,
we see Luca get traded and were like, hold on, okay,
we got action.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Kendrick.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
My thing is, did you see the Chicago game last night?
Speaker 1 (02:08):
I did.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
We're how embarrassed would you be if you were a
former Bull and you had to watch your team go
out and play that port?
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Well, I mean I would be. I would be embarrassed.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
But you know, you gotta have a you have to
have a different type of mindset, uh, in order to
battle out of being in a player in tournament, meaning
being in that ninth to tenth spot having to play
again just to get to the postseason.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
The mental toughness to know.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
That you're getting to fighting for an eight spot, and
then uh, you know, gotta possibly faith faith, you know,
see the Cleveland caval lives when you probably don't have
a shot, your mental toughness have to be there. And
I called the night on Sports Center before the game
even happened. I said the Miami he is gonna win
(03:06):
this game because they've been in this position before, right
and that he coach is gonna kick in that meltal toughness.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And you know, if you're a Bulls.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Fan, at some point, you gotta be sick and tired of,
you know, straddling the fence or should I say, being
in the middle. You're either trying to compete for a
title or you trying to build for the future. And
right now, the pieces that they have don't tell me
that they're.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Doing either one of them.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
You know, it's like, Okay, why am I sitting up
here having this last stretch of games like the Bulls
had in the regular season, where they were sitting up
here winning games when maybe they could have set Kobe White.
You know, I don't want to use the word tank
and say, you know what, let us try to strike
something in this drought. So I know the Bulls fans
(03:57):
they gotta be there frustrated for us the lack the
effort last night, but they've been frustrated for the last
six or seven years, to be honest with you, because
it's just that we don't want to be in the
middle with the Chicago Bulls. We're about championships. We need
a true franchise guy in here that's gonna be able
(04:17):
to take us to.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
The promise Land.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
I'm not saying that Kobe White future is not bright,
but he's not the guy that you're going to build
a round. No, Kendrick whed Last night, we got to
see Dallas play at a really high level and I
made this statement.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I hung my hat on it.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
That I felt like that, go ahead, No, I'm listening
that I felt like Dallas could give OKC a run.
And my heart said, man, you crazy. What do you
think about that? Anthony Davis played like a wild man.
If he can play like that and Klay Thompson can
(04:57):
step up like that, I feel like you can give a
OKAC a run.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
What what let me say is.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I believe that they're gonna beat the Memphis Grises, okay,
but they're gonna lose if they once they do. If
they do, they're going to lose it to OKC in five.
And here's why you need perimeter play. You need that
guard that's gonna be able to put pressure on the
Oklahoma City defense, of that number one defense and all
(05:29):
those guys on the perimeter's perimeter could slide those puppies. Now,
when I look at the front court of Dallas, they
give you LIFs right, the most athletic front court, to me,
the most the best defensive front front court in Anthony
Davis dare you gaffled?
Speaker 1 (05:46):
And Derrick Lovely.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
But again, when you talk about going against the best
in the league, best in the Western Conference, you gotta
have that guy that could get buckets. And I understand
Clay got off yesterday, but that's not gonna happen against
Oklahoma City.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
You know they have five or six dogs on.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
The perimeter that's gonna get on your ass like back pockets.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Show for show, we're talking. We're talking to Kendrick Perkins
of ESPN. He is one of the best that's out
there and he always gives it to you raw and uncut.
But I wanted to ask you this because the conversation
you brought up earlier about Jimmy Butler going to Golden State.
He is somebody that playoff. Jimmy decided to show up
(06:34):
just the other day. But again, the journey is gonna
be a little bit harder because they have to be
able to go out there and do it night in
and night out, and going up against them young ThunderCats
that I like in Houston, it's gonna be tough for
them to be able to do that every single night.
But looking at h Town, what do you like about
(06:55):
that team and do you think they can pull it.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Off against the Warriors? I do. I actually had this
series won seven games.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
I give a slight dish to the Golden State Warriors
because they have two closers and the experience.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
But I will say this the Rockets, their future is
extremely bright.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
I call Aftershan goon Affrashan Goon, Baby Jokic, I call
you know, I'm looking at Amen Thompson, who I believe,
in possibly the next two to three years, could be
the best two way player in the game. You know,
they have the experience, championship experience in the locker room
and on the floor. Jeff Green and Fred Van Bleek,
(07:42):
and so I'm looking at the wild card. This is
a time for Jalen Green. He's auditioning right now at
the moment when you think about all what they're talking about,
what they're saying, you know them Katie rumors he's gonna
be involved with that. If they do happened to trade
for Kevin Durant this summer, And so when I'm looking
(08:05):
at Jalen Green, I'm looking at him to go out
there and be that guy that's gonna be be able
to audition and show that he could go toe to
toe with the best of them if it gets late
in the fourth quarter. But I'm gonna say this about
Golden State, Steve Kerky, keep playing if you want to,
and don't play Jonathan Kamena.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
They gonna get there behind sid Home.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Jonathan Kaminga athleticism is needed in this series. Jonathan Kaminga
gets Golden State this season average twenty five points.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
His stuff is really really needed.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
His his body and what he brings to the table
is gonna be.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Needed in this series. If Steve Steve.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
Kirk got to find a way to not only get
him on the floor, but get his mental back.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
You have a young guy that you know is up up.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
On the verge of getting a contract, of fighting to
get a car track a big contract, and two of
the most important games of the season, Steve Kerr goes
to him before you know the Clippers.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Game and tell him that he's out of the rotation.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
So now you're playing against the athletic Rockets team, which
you need athleticism because you know, playing game against mithis
Jimmy and Steps. They had eighty points, so you you
gotta have somebody that's gonna take that pressure off of them.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
And I think that guy is Joern than Cominger.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Wow, Kendrick, I know that I'm gonna get away from
the NBA. Were about to We're about to be up
against it. Uh, your son. I want to make an
early pitch to get him to the University of Texas. Hey, look,
I'll tell you what. I would love to have him
(09:53):
close to Holmes. Well, you know you got Kim Folk
in Austin, so you're all right, yup. I would love
to have them close to home. I will say I'm
a little disappointed.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
They just fired.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
They just fired one of my day ones, Brandon Chappelle
that I went to high school with, which he's probably
he's land and going land in Arizona the day. But
Stoehart feelings Wilverstone want to go.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
I'm with you. I love it. I love it man.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
As always, Kendrick, we appreciate you taking the time. I
know you're busy, man, but thank you for taking the
time and we hope to talk to you a little
bit later as these playoffs start to heat up.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Okay, thank you so much. Appreciate y'all listenings. Tak y'all
for having.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
No problem Legends of the Locker Room segment with Kendrick Perkins.
Make sure you get over to our podcast page. My boy, Marcus,
I have that turned up for us real
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com