"Kendrick lost the Klutch paycheck" - NBA fans clown Kendrick Perkins for firing shots at LeBron James with 'Jesus' comments

NBA veteran Kendrick Perkins wasn't too happy with LeBron James indicating that he misses being Kyrie Irving's running mate. As Irving and Luka Doncic compete in the NBA Finals, James explained on his Mind The Game podcast with JJ Redick that he misses being Irving's partner in crime. The situation didn't go over well with Perkins, who took aim at James earlier in the week.

During his NBA Finals duties for ESPN, Perkins, who played with James on the Cleveland Cavaliers twice late in his career, went off. As he explained, the comments from the four-time NBA champ were an attempt at James wiggling his way into NBA Finals coverage.

In Perkins' eyes, the NBA Finals coverage on ESPN and the discourse surrounding the finals should have revolved around the Celtics and the Mavericks. Instead, before Game 1 of a highly-anticipated series, fans and analysts were talking about James.

In the wake of the comments, it appears as though the future Hall of Famer has unfollowed Perkins on Twitter/X. An account alerted fans to the situation on Saturday morning, prompting a response from Perkins. While reposting the tweet indicating that LeBron James unfollowed him, the NBA vet wrote:

“Everybody didn’t follow Jesus, I’ll be ok”

Fans were quick to react to the situation, with one fan writing:

"Kendrick lost the Klutch paycheck" - @Kdoggizzle (Twitter/X)

Others were blown away by the comparison:

"Don’t ever compare him to yourself ever again" - @CookedByRiley0 (Twitter/X)

"Disrespecting Jesus on the timeline not gonna fly" - @BigHeatEnergy (Twitter/X)

"Kendrick Perkins comparing himself to Jesus LMFAO" - @Agenda_Pusher (Twitter/X)

Others cracked jokes about LeBron unfollowing him:

"This is why LeBron unfollowed you" - @BRICKW0RLD (Twitter/X)

"This why he unfollowed btw" - @J4_c3 (Twitter/X)

"Here we go again" - Looking back at what Kendrick Perkins said about LeBron James earlier this week before the start of the NBA Finals, and his time with the Cavs

As previously mentioned, LeBron James' decision to unfollow Kendrick Perkins came after the former big man criticized him on ESPN. With coverage focusing on LeBron James' comments from the Mind The Game podcast, and Kyrie Irving's subsequent response, Kendrick Perkins wasn't pleased.

Sitting with Malika Andrews and Richard Jefferson, another former teammate of James', Perkins took aim at the future Hall of Famer for stealing the spotlight.

"Here we go again. Bron weaseling his way into somebody else's moment. Like, this is not about you. Your team is at home. This is about the Mavs and the Celtics. Yet, your so mad and disappointed that you're not Kyrie Irving's running mate anymore. Here we go again."

Of course, LeBron James and Kendrick Perkins both suited up for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2014-15 season and the 2017-18 seasons. In the case of the former, Perkins played 17 games, averaging 2.6 points per game and 2.4 rebounds per game over 9.8 minutes per game.

Then, in the 2017-18 season, Perkins suited up just once for the Cavaliers, playing 14 minutes in a 110-98 loss at home. In what would be the final game of his career, Perkins scored three points and hauled down one board while adding two assists and a steal to his box score numbers.

While the team made a postseason run, ultimately falling to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, he didn't play in any of the team's postseason games. Since then, Perkins has shifted into an analyst role, where he has both praised and criticized James over the years.

Whether or not these two former teammates can patch things up behind the scenes, only time will tell.