Kendrick Perkins says he would have beat Golden State Warriors in 2016 WCF

Kendrick Perkins believes that if he was on the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016, the Golden State Warriors would not have recovered from being down 3-1.

Kendrick Perkins has had plenty of time to rattle off NBA takes during the league’s hiatus. Most recently, he told Joe Vardon of The Athletic that he would have helped the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the Golden State Warriors in 2016.

“f I was on Oklahoma City, we wouldn’t have blown that 3-1 lead, there’s no way in hell we would have blown that,” Perkins said. As I’m sure we all remember, the Dubs overcome a 3-1 deficit in the 2016 Western Conference Finals to topple the Thunder.

The Warriors achieved this due to incredible performances from Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry. The splash brothers left it all out on the floor and won their duel with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

Perkins, who was on the New Orleans Pelicans at the time, thinks things would have gone differently had he still been on the team. “I’m not saying because of me playing, I am saying just my locker room presence,” Perkins told Vardon.

He has a point. It wouldn’t have been because of him playing. Perkins was 31 years old at the time and on the back end of a steep decline in which he averaged just 2.5 points per game. There was no chance Perkins played meaningful minutes with a Western Conference Championship on the line.

As for his leadership capabilities, those are doubtful as well. It’s hard to imagine Perkins delivering a game-changing speech when Thompson was lighting them up for an NBA Playoff record 11 3-pointers in Game 6.

The Thunder have no one to blame but themselves for squandering their 3-1 lead. All they can do is tip their hats to the Dubs who played at a historic level for three straight games to overcome the deficit. If it isn’t already obvious, Perkin’s locker room presence likely wouldn’t have changed a thing.