Kendrick Perkins Speaks About His Return to Boston

OKC Thunder Reporter Darnell Mayberry spoke to Kendrick Perkins the night before he makes his return to the TD Garden floor, this time as the opposition and not as a Celtic.  Perk had some really moving things to say before he takes on his old team.

“It's been a lot of different thoughts going through my head,” Perkins said. “You don't want to be too emotional, and you don't want to make it all about yourself because, really, it's all about us getting the win. But at the same time, you're playing against friends of yours. But I still got to be Perk. I still got to be me. It's kind of hard because you're caught in between.”

When asked about the affection he received from Celtics fans:

“It was unreal, similar to the love that I get (in Oklahoma City),” Perkins said. “It's very interesting when you can go to cities that the fans have a high basketball IQ and can see what your worth is. I know it may not show up every night in the stat sheet. But if you watch the game, you could be like, ‘Well, Perk played good tonight.' That shows a lot and that just keeps me going. So at the end of the day, like I said, you got mixed emotions. You try to approach it the right way. But at the same time, I'm really the leader of this squad and they follow me so I can't let the emotions get the best of me.”

More after the jump about acknowledging the crowd at the TD Garden and playing against his former teammates...


When asked if he plans to acknowledge the Celtics fans at introduction tomorrow, he said he definitely would:

“Oh definitely,” Perk said. “I got too. It's no question. I'll do it for however long it takes. I'm definitely going to walk around and acknowledge the whole crowd and after that get to work.”

On playing against his former teammates:

“When jump ball comes,” Perk said, “we're trying to win the game.”

“It's going to definitely be different,” Perkins said. “I know (Garnett) is going to make the intensity where it needs to be, and I'm going to make sure it's there too.

“But I know they're going to come at us. They're going to try to whoop our behinds. We need to be prepared. And vice-versa. We're coming in the same way. After everything is said and done, whatever they got planned and all that, we're going to get to work.”

Read the entire article by Darnell Mayberry...