Any suggestions about Kendrick Perkins replacing Brad Stevens are asinine. Stevens is an accomplished head coach with three Eastern Conference Finals appearances and a Final Four win under his belt. Perkins, meanwhile, is good on TV.
But it's apparent Perkins enjoys deep connections with star players around the league, including Jayson Tatum, who's turned around his performance following a Twitter missive from Perkins. For months, Stevens failed to reach Tatum and get the young All-Star to play more aggressively. Perkins accomplished that with 154 characters.
It would be great to see him firing up the Celtics from the sideline rather than on his Twitter feed.
Following Boston's sensational 116-115 win over the Trail Blazers Tuesday, Perkins revealed on NBC Sports Boston that Tatum reached out to him after he had criticized his demeanor during the Celtics' loss last week to the 76ers.
"The thing that I appreciate about Jayson Tatum is that he didn't get sensitive, he didn't get back at me on Twitter or social media," Perkins said. "Guess what he did? Guess what ended up happening? We actually had a phone call conversation and we talked about it. He called me and we talked about it."
Clearly, Perkins' words resonated. Since his tweet, Tatum is averaging 34.5 points per game, including a 53-point effort against the Timberwolves. He nailed the game-clinching three with seconds remaining against Portland on Tuesday.
One of the reasons for Tatum's scoring barrage is newfound willingness to drive to the basket and get to the free throw line. Tatum is averaging 10.3 free throws per game over the last three contests. Overall this season, he's averaging just 4.8 free throw attempts per game — good for 33rd in the league. Up until recently, Tatum was leaving points on the table.
"I appreciate Jayson Tatum because we didn't have a conversation where it was beef," Perkins said. "We had a conversation where he just wanted to understand where I was coming from and I got an understanding of how he felt about my comments.
Perkins says multiple teams, including the Celtics, offered him assistant coaching jobs after he had retired. That makes sense, considering he virtually served as an assistant coach for the Cavaliers during their 2018 NBA Finals run, and was known as a locker room leader during his 14-year career. Thunder head coach Scott Brooks says he often let Perkins speak up and lead during their film sessions.
As Perkins often reminds his followers, he played with multiple Hall of Famers during his career: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Durant and LeBron James. Perk would be a valuable resource for Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Of course, Perkins may not want to coach. He considered it a couple of years ago, even popping into the NBA Draft combine. But then he discovered the joy of going viral. Perkins' Twitter feed is a must-follow. As an official coach, he would obviously have to clamp down his social media personality, and work ungodly hours.
But the Celtics have nothing to lose by trying. And they could gain Tatum's whisperer.
