The X account NBA Alerts provides updates whenever a notable NBA figure follows or unfollows another notable NBA figure. While there are plenty of valid reasons why active players and media members might follow and unfollow one another throughout a season, sometimes there’s an update that stands out.
That happened on Friday when LeBron James apparently decided to unfollow a few people on X, including Ben Simmons, Blake Griffin, and ESPN NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins.
While we can’t say for sure why James unfollowed Perkins, it’s not hard to connect the dots on why it probably happened.
Earlier this week on his Mind the Game podcast, James praised Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving, calling his former teammate the “most gifted player the NBA has ever seen” and noting how upset he is that he no longer plays with Irving.
On Wednesday’s NBA Today on ESPN, Perkins lambasted James for inserting himself into the conversation and not letting Irving have his own moment.
“Bron weaseling his way into somebody else’s moment…This is not about you! Your team is at home,” said Perkins. “This is about the Mavs and the Celtics, but yet you’re so mad and disappointed that you’re not Kyrie Irving’s running mate anymore.”
A day later, Perkins came back at LeBron’s assessment of his best teammate ever, saying that Dwayne Wade was a better running buddy than Irving was.
Perk’s response elicited one of two responses for the most part. On one side, people appreciated that he could make a joke out of the snub. On the other side, they couldn’t get over the notion that Perkins had put himself in the same category as Jesus Christ.
Perkins has also been pretty adamant about how Bronny James is being overhyped and has long wanted ESPN to spend less time talking about the Los Angeles Lakers so much. So honestly, it’s surprising the unfollow took this long.