Stephen A. Smith went there.
Bob Myers pleaded with him not to, but ESPN’s $100 million man had no interest in listening to the former Golden State Warriors executive.
Smith asked Kendrick Perkins a pretty invasive question. That’s par for the course from the same guy who’s made a habit of fat-shaming Zion Williamson. This time, though, he turned that energy on his own ESPN colleague.
The moment came during a conversation about Gregg Popovich, who is officially stepping down as head coach of the San Antonio Spurs to take on a front office role.
Perkins began sharing a story from his teenage years — his first run-in with Pop.
“My story with Pop actually happened when I was 18 years old,” Perkins began. “[Oklahoma City Thunder GM] Sam Presti used to drive down to old Beaumont, Texas, when he was a scout for the San Antonio Spurs, and watched me in high school. And during my draft workouts, I had to go to San Antonio, right? And so when I got there, Pop was in there, and he said, ‘Hello, you ready to work?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m ready to work.’ And he said, ‘Well, one go to the weight room. ‘So, first thing that they did was body fat, right? I didn’t pass the test.”
Smith, Myers, and Malika Andrews couldn’t help but laugh.
“So, my entire workout changed and was straight conditioning,” Perkins continued. “And I remember Pop said, ‘I’ll see you in about a month for your second workout.’ Because the plan, Bob, they had the late first round pick at the time, and they was going to pick me. But that woke me up, and the next time I worked out in front of Gregg Popovich, I got a guarantee from the San Antonio Spurs. So, he’s always been that truth teller.”
That was Smith’s cue.
Before he could even finish asking Perkins what his body fat percentage was back then, Myers intervened on Perkins’ behalf.
“Don’t do that. Don’t do that. That’s over the line,” Myers said. “Perk, you don’t have to do that. You don’t have to answer that.”
Perkins didn’t seem to care.
“I’ll tell you,” Perkins told Smith. “I’m not ashamed. You know what I mean? I’m comfortable. I was at 26%, and when I came back, I was at 15%.”
The Memphis Grizzlies snagged Kendrick Perkins at No. 27 in the 2003 NBA Draft, using a pick they landed by shipping Mike Miller to Orlando and acquiring Drew Gooden. That deal let them jump one spot ahead of the Spurs and snag Perkins before Gregg Popovich could.
San Antonio pivoted to Leandro Barbosa at No. 28, then shipped him to the Suns.
Perkins was immediately dealt to the Boston Celtics along with Marcus Banks in exchange for Troy Bell and Dahntay Jones, both of whom Boston had selected earlier that night.
He went on to win his lone NBA title in 2008 with the Celtics.
And had he slipped one more pick, perhaps he’d have more Popovich stories to share on ESPN.