The frustrating season for Nets superstar Kyrie Irving continues. Irving began his Nets' tenure with a bang, scoring 50 points in their home opener, but a shoulder impingement has kept the All-Star point guard from playing since Nov. 14.
Former NBA center and current RADIO.com contributor, Kendrick Perkins joined "Joe & Evan" on WFAN Wednesday afternoon to discuss the status of Irving and the Nets who have lost seven straight games.
Benigno kicked off the interview by asking if Perkins, who retired in 2018, will return to the court before Kyrie Irving does.
"I'm starting to wonder if the guy even likes basketball anymore," Perkins said with a chuckle.
Perkins was a teammate of Irving on the Cavaliers during the 2014-15 season. After wanting to step outside of LeBron James' shadow, Irving was dealt to the Celtics, a franchise Perkins also has ties with, having spent the first seven and half years of his NBA career in Boston.
The former NBA center said he doesn't trust Irving because rumors and concerns about a player in the locker room don't consistently leak out by accident.
"How can we sit here and have any trust in a guy that has a history of doing weird things," Perkins said. "We talked about it for a whole year, that Kyrie actually believes the world is flat!"
"Is he playing again this year?" Benigno asked.
"I doubt it," Perkins answered.
Joe and Evan agreed that Irving's year is headed in that direction, with Perkins noting that at some point, he expects to hear "season-ending" attached to the injury report.
Roberts, a season ticket holder and lifelong Nets' fan said he's frustrated by the lack of updates given by the team.
"They've been radio silent, they haven't updated anything and when you don't give updates to the media about what the hell is going on, we never knew he was considering surgery," said Roberts.
"Kyrie Irving comes out Saturday night, when the world is watching football by the way. I don't think that was a coincidence," Roberts added about Irving's recent press conference to address his recovery with the media.
Perkins jumped in to defend the Nets, wondering if they even knew about Irving possibly needing surgery.
"I watched Kyrie Irving with the Cleveland medical staff, have his own medical doctors, have his own personal trainer that was in the gym and he did everything separate from the organization," Perkins said. "There were times coach David Blatt, coach Tyronn Lue, they didn't even know what was going on with Kyrie until 10 minutes before tipoff."
Roberts looked forward to the day Nets general manager Sean Marks comes on the program again and can be asked whether or not their medical team is watching Kyrie Irving.
Later in the interview, Perkins discussed the NBA being a team sport, searching for an example of individual sports, the former NBA center began to question if golf should even be considered a sport. He was quickly stopped by Benigno, an avid golf fan.
This idea that it's not a sport, give me a freakin' break," Benigno said after interrupting Perkins.
The two would later agree to set a golf date down the road. Perkins even offered to bring Kyrie Irving which grabbed the interest of Roberts, but Benigno noted Irving might get injured.
Click the audio player above to hear the full interview with Kendrick Perkins
