What is LeBron James' beef with Kendrick Perkins? Exploring Twitter shenanigans of 2 NBA veterans

LeBron James made headlines again after unfollowing longtime friend and former teammate Kendrick Perkins on social media. James and Perkins have known each other since high school, but it seems like their friendship has hit a rough patch. What is the beef between the LA Lakers superstar and the ESPN analyst?

It might have started when Perkins was very critical of "The King" in an episode of "NBA Today" last Thursday. The one-time NBA champion accused his friend of trying to steal the spotlight from the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals by saying that he was mad that Kyrie Irving was no longer his teammate.

"Here we go again. LeBron weaseling his way into somebody else's moment. Let somebody else enjoy it. This is not about you. Your team is at home. This is about the Mavs and the Celtics and yet you're so mad and disappointed that you're not Kyrie Irving's running mate no more. Here we go again," Perkins said.

LeBron James seemingly responded on Friday by unfollowing Kendrick Perkins on social media. And James might have brought it to an entirely different level because Perkins might have been blocked as well by his longtime friend and former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate.

Nevertheless, Perkins took it in stride and more when he responded to it on X by writing:

"Everybody didn't follow Jesus. I'll be ok."

Another former teammate of Perkins enjoyed his comment about getting unfollowed. Kevin Durant replied to the post about the situation on Instagram, commenting the following:

"Bro think he Jesus. Lmao"

"@kendrickperkins too many espresso, martinis, keep cookin' Jesus"

It's a crazy storyline that has taken over the NBA in the past couple of days and it's the most important part of the season. The NBA Finals is on-going and the headlines are being dominated by LeBron James and Kendrick Perkins.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see who James unfollows next on social media. He also unfollowed a pair of former first overall picks and Klutch Sports clients in Ben Simmons and Blake Griffin.

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What did LeBron James say about Kyrie Irving?

The comments that started it all was a seemingly harmless comment by LeBron James about Kyrie Irving ahead of Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals. James and "Mind the Game" podcast co-host JJ Redick released their latest episode on Wednesday.

One of the topics they discussed was Irving, who won a championship with James in 2016 as part of the Cleveland Cavaliers. "The King" had nothing but praise for his former teammate and was upset that he was no longer playing with him.

"I'm so f*cking happy and so proud to watch him continue his growth whatever the case maybe. And at the same time, I'm so f*cking mad at the same time that I'm not his running mate anymore. I just remembered those times. ...

"To have a guy like Kyrie Irving as the ultimate wildcard, that's like having a draw four in your hand every time someone deals you cards in UNO," James said.