When the name Perkins popped up in headlines this season, fans quickly asked the obvious question: Is Ole Miss linebacker Suntarine Perkins related to NBA champion and ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins? The rumors were only heightened by Suntarine’s elite athletic build and similar last name. But behind the curiosity lies a much deeper family story.

Is There Any Connection Between Suntarine Perkins and NBA Star Kendrick Perkins?

Former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins and Ole Miss linebacker Suntarine Perkins are not related, despite sharing the same last name and an elite athletic background. The connection arises whenever two high-profile athletes with the same surname dominate discussions in their respective sports.

The stories of both athletes are influenced by adversity and the need to overcome one’s personal hardships. Suntarine’s path continues to take place in real time, under the spotlight of SEC stadiums, whereas Kendrick Perkins’ was shaped by childhood trauma and poverty.

Who Are Suntarine Perkins’s Parents? 

Suntarine Perkins is the younger brother of Margro Suntarine Perkins Jr. and the son of Lucinda Owens. During a homecoming celebration in Raleigh, his father, Margro Suntarine Perkins Sr., was involved in a horrific incident in which he suffered multiple stab wounds, one of which was severe enough to require surgery. Authorities confirmed that Suntarine was not present at the gathering and had no involvement in the incident.

His elder brother, 22-year-old Margro Jr., was the supposed culprit. After police discovered a box-cutter-style knife on him, he was detained and charged with aggravated assault. “An officer saw him walking down the road just before, and they went back and picked him up,” Chief of Police Joe Blakeney said.

Top Stories

Tom Brady Hints at Nefarious Actions From Bears After Packers Lose Sideline Heaters

Johnson Wagner Admits Guilt for Making Jordan Spieth Miss Out on Rare PGA Tour Record

Amanda Balionis Receives Wake-Up Call That She Didn’t Expect to Face at 39

Prayers Pour In From Terrell Owens as 275lbs Former Cowboys Player Announces Major Health News

Another Almost Fatal Disaster Surfaces From Statesville Airport Amidst Ongoing Greg Biffle’s Crash Investigation

Scottie Scheffler Delivers Bad News to Tiger Woods After Sparking TGL Rumors

Considering how tightly linked the Raleigh community is and how deeply football is woven into that background, this situation casts an immense emotional shadow.

What Is Suntarine Perkins’s Family Background and Upbringing? 

Suntarine Perkins grew up in a football-loving community in Raleigh, Mississippi. He became popular in the community early on, winning a state title with Raleigh High School in 2022 and being named Mississippi’s best prep athlete. He was given the nickname “Get” by the locals, which was a reflection of both his explosiveness on the field and how he went about accomplishing results.

But being famous wasn’t the only aspect of his childhood. People who are close to Perkins frequently describe him as a grounded individual who was shaped by accountability and community. Even now, amid family turmoil, his response has been to stay silent publicly and let his play do the talking.

Kendrick Perkins’s Family Background: Parents, Roots, and Early Life 

Kendrick Perkins’ life story seems more like a work of survival fiction. He was born in 1984 and lost his father at a young age when Kenneth Perkins went abroad to play basketball and never came back. When Kendrick was just five years old, tragedy struck once more when his mother, Ercell Minix, was shot and killed during a fight at a beauty parlor.

For Kendrick Perkins, the memory of his mother never faded. Even years into his NBA career, after one game in 2007, the weight of her absence came crashing back.

“The yearning I had was so intense I thought it might split me open,” Kendrick recalled. “Before I knew it, I was crying as I’d never done before. Decades of living with the tragedy of her death came pouring out of me as Vanity (his wife) sat beside me, holding me, keeping me steady.”

For him, the pain and love never disappeared. “My mother’s presence in my soul, even in her absence, is a North Star,” he said.

Kendrick was raised in Beaumont, Texas, by his grandparents, Raymond and Mary Lewis, after both of his parents passed away. There wasn’t much money. The shoes were too small, and the clothes were worn out. However, the struggle gave rise to a sense of purpose.

Kendrick stated, “My whole goal was not only to make it to the NBA but to get my grandparents out of that situation… If you see the house I grew up in, I was like, ‘I’ve just got to make it better for my family.”

That’s just what he did: he skipped college, joined the NBA right out of high school, won a championship, and eventually turned suffering into opportunity.

Elite athletes frequently mature quickly due to personal loss or family tragedy, and they bear hardships that few people can see behind the jersey.