“We were the better team”: Kendrick Perkins takes offense at Celtics’ major victory over LeBron James-led Cavs being labeled as ‘upset’

In 2010, the Boston Celtics, which had center Kendrick Perkins on their roster, defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, then led by a young LeBron James, in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The win put the Celtics in an Eastern Conference showdown against the Orlando Magic, but they lost.

Over 15 years later, Perkins looked back at their win against the James-led Cavaliers, following an X post that framed the series win as an upset. In his reply, Perkins explained why it should not be called as such.

“Wouldn’t have called this an upset. We were the better team,” he said on X.

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The Celtics were the fourth seed entering the playoffs after a 50-32 record in the regular season. They defeated the Miami Heat in five games in the first round before facing off against the Cavaliers, then heavily carried by James, who won the season MVP award.

The Cavaliers seemed to be in control of the series, leading 2-1 after the first three games until the Celtics tapped into their championship poise and recovered to steal the series in six games.

The loss was monumental in James’ career as it marked his last appearance with the Cavaliers before leaving for Miami. He returned to Cleveland in 2014.

In that playoff run, Perkins averaged 5.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game as the starting center for the Celtics, which also had Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

The season was also the final one for Perkins in Boston, as he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the following year.

Kendrick Perkins gets candid on relationship with Boston fans

Kendrick Perkins built his reputation as a bruising center in Boston, playing his first eight NBA seasons there. Now that he is an analyst and TV personality for ESPN, Perkins expressed how hard it is to please Celtics fans, even if his time with the team is already far in the past.

“The thing is, Boston fans, they expect you to be married to them for life," Perkins said. "Like a sense of entitlement, like you owe them your life, and that's not the case.

"They raised me. That was the organization and the city that embraced me as an 18-year-old. But at the end of the day, my thing was even when I retired from the game, I closed that chapter of my life, of basketball, and started focusing on my new career that's in front of me right now."

Perkins won his only NBA title in Boston in 2008. Despite his connections with Boston, Perkins has been critical of all NBA topics, including ones about the Celtics.

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About the author

Rob Andrew Lo

Rob Andrew Lo is an NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda with over three years of experience in the field. Rob studied journalism at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines and his love for sports made this an obvious career to pursue.

Rob's favorite team is the Oklahoma City Thunder. He grew up watching Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant and his admiration for them left not only a lasting impression but solidified his fandom.

When not working, Rob loves to play basketball. If he isn't watching or writing about basketball, he can probably be found watching pro wrestling.

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