The last person to stick to the standard retired NBA player handbook is Kendrick Perkins. While he went the traditional route from the court to the studio, he isn’t trying to endear himself to any NBA players through his hot takes. After a week of angering fans through his comments on the Lakers, player injuries, Gregg Popovich and the Spurs, he’s now outing a supposed ‘secret’ from within the player circles he was once a part of. Once again, his provocative revelation (if that’s what it is) are riling up fans.

Instead of chocolate and candy, Perk chose violence on Easter with his newest tirade on load management. According to Perkins, the random absences fans see in December or March are often pre-determined months in advance during high-level strategy meetings.

“Let me take y’all behind the scenes of what happens before the season starts,” Perkins said on First Take. “Before the season starts, especially these franchise players around the league, they get with they organization, look at the schedule throughout the course of the whole season, and they actually planning games that they are going to miss and sit out. Whether it’s back to backs or whatever the case may be.”

This revelation suggests that the league’s Player Participation Policy is being bypassed by a systematic, pre-planned calendar that prioritizes long-term rest over the nightly ticket-buying fan experience.

Usually this grinds fans who don’t want to spend a premium price on tickets to have the likes of Victor Wembanyama and LeBron James on the injury report for ‘rest.’ But coming from the former Celtics player colors fans’ perspective. They don’t approve of a retired NBA player tattling.

Kendrick Perkins labeled the ‘rat’ of the NBA community

Perkins was already not in the good graces of fans this week after a tactless reaction to Luka Doncic’s grade 2 hamstring strain. When he talks about load management, fans’ attention went from the allegation to an unspoken code that Perk seems to break.

The sentiment across social media was that Perkins has traded in his jersey for a whistle, taunting him with, “N—- think he has inside news when he’s really a rat on the fraternity he was apart of 🤣🤣” Fans saw this accusation as a betrayal, calling him some colorful labels. “We have the Snitch of the NBA right there ladies and gentlemen’s 🐀”

The majority were even more derogatory, with one commenting, “@KendrickPerkins is a 🦝.”

It might sound believable coming from a former player himself. A seed of doubt was planted in a handful who said, “Picking games to skip pre-tip? Fans paying premium for half-empty lineups that’s outrageous if legit.”

But this ex NBA star has also driven a wedge between himself and his own teammates. The Celtics didn’t invite him to the 2024 championship parade because of his harsh commentary. While his estrangement from the same team and community he was a part of makes fans cynical, his recent comments on load management don’t help.

Earlier this week, he blamed Gregg Popovich for the systemic practice of rest. “I love Gregg Popovich. He is one of the greatest coaches to ever coach the game of basketball, but he’s at fault here. He started the whole load management. That’s how we got to this point. Then everybody else followed. I don’t care if this rule affects the awards. This rule was put in for the fans,” Perkins stated. That resulted in more backlash with fans claiming, “This guy just can’t stop disrespecting legends that did more for the game than he could even imagine doing.”

The skepticism even extended to Perkins’ own playing career and whether he was ever important enough to be part of such exclusive organizational planning. “Think perk ever had those meetings? 😂” someone joked.

Others made ominous predictions citing his tendency to leak these locker-room secrets that will eventually lead to his exit from the spotlight, like, “Perk will be out of the media soon.”

The NBA fanbase largely feels Perk is out of line for twisting his own credibility as a former NBA player. With the 2026 playoffs just weeks away, injuries mounting and teams getting extra cautious with their stars, the “snitch” narrative has added another layer of tension to an already sensitive season. To most, Perkins’ transparency has permanently burned his bridges with the league’s current stars.