When the Brooklyn Nets parted ways with Steve Nash in November 2022 after a 2-6 start, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr had a candid observation about the environment surrounding Kevin Durant: “You throw me in that situation,” Kerr said, “I wouldn’t have done any better than Nash.” That moment set the tone for a pattern Kendrick Perkins laid out on First Take Tuesday, questioning whether any roster can truly absorb the disruption that has followed the fifth-leading scorer in NBA history from stop to stop.

“H*ll no, he’s not,” Perkins said bluntly when asked whether a team should surrender foundational pieces to acquire Kevin Durant. He opened with a concession, “I believe that Kevin Durant is the greatest scorer to ever touch a damn basketball,” before dismantling the proposition through three consecutive case studies. “The Brooklyn Nets, disaster,” Perkins said, which at that point left ESPN fellow analyst Stephen A. Smith in shock, head in hand. “The Phoenix Suns ran through two or three coaches, two of them was championship caliber coaches, a disaster. What did the Phoenix Suns do this year? They made it to the postseason. They were one of the biggest surprises in the NBA.” The contrast Perkins was drawing was pointed: the franchises Durant left are thriving; the one he joined is not.

Perkins’ argument is backed by a clear pattern of coaching instability. In Brooklyn, the Nets dismissed Nash just weeks into the 2022-23 season and later moved on from his replacement, Jacque Vaughn. In Phoenix, the Suns parted ways with Finals coach Monty Williams shortly after Durant’s arrival, then fired Frank Vogel one season later following a first-round exit. The constant turnover only reinforced Perkins’ point about turbulence following Durant’s stops.

Perkins then turned to Houston. “Last year, this team was pushing top seeds to six or seven games,” he said. “They had identity. They had culture.” But after bringing in Durant, he argued the narrative flipped. “You give up Jalen Green. You give up Dillon Brooks. Now what’s the biggest knock? Chemistry. People are questioning everything, even Ime Udoka.”

That shift has even extended to Ime Udoka. Just a year ago, he was widely viewed as a top-tier coach after establishing structure and discipline in Houston. This season, that perception has shifted, with growing questions around cohesion and locker room chemistry. Perkins had flagged those concerns as early as March, describing a team that looked disconnected rather than unified.

On Tuesday, he tied both threads together. “This team has an identity crisis,” Perkins said. “I’m not taking anything away from KD as a player and a scorer. But I’m saying, if you’re a team that’s a championship contender, would you give up a valuable piece with a culture that’s set, to bring in Kevin Durant, not knowing if it’s going to disrupt the vibe and the chemistry of the organization? I can’t chance that.”

Perkins: The Question Was Never About Durant’s Scoring

Perkins was careful to isolate the argument from Durant’s individual ability throughout. “I believe that he still puts the ball in the basket better than the majority of the NBA,” he said. But the analysis he presented was organizational rather than individual, and that distinction is what appeared to leave Stephen A. without a clean rebuttal. Durant responded to a previous round of chemistry criticism from Perkins earlier this season by walking into a post-game press conference and immediately asking reporters, “How was the body language tonight?”, a dry acknowledgment that he had been following the commentary closely. But Perkins on Tuesday was not revisiting the body language debate. He was presenting a broader question about whether the disruption that has followed Durant across four franchises in seven years is a pattern worth accounting for when weighing the cost of acquiring him.

“It’s a lot,” Perkins said in closing. “It’s a gift and a curse. If you’re a team with a strong culture, would you risk that?” The Rockets now trail the Lakers 3-1 in the first round, with Kevin Durant sidelined by a left ankle injury after already missing time earlier in the series with a knee issue. Perkins did not frame his take as a verdict on Durant’s legacy, but as a practical decision teams must make when weighing talent against chemistry.