NBA
Ex-NBA champion apologizes to Anthony Edwards for suggesting he needs to become a family man
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All posts by Antonio KozlowUpdated7 hours ago on May 29, 2025
Kendrick Perkins knew he had made a mistake this week after discussing Anthony Edwards‘ status as the “future face of the league,” naming all the aspects in which the Wolves star needs to improve in order to really enter this conversation. According to the former NBA champion, he must become a better role model.
“You gotta check the boxes when you’re the face of the league,” he started out. “Yes, we know you gotta have your signature shoe, you’re gonna be in commercials, you’re gonna have the highlights, you gotta have the game. But you know what else you gotta have? You gotta be a role model. Things outside the lines matter.”
Perkins then added: “Now you go down the list on all the faces of the league, in the history of the game. You look at Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaq, LeBron, Steph, what did they all have in common? While they was all playing in the league, they all were family men, married with kids.”
Kendrick’s assessment comes from a good place, but doesn’t really apply to every superstar who has led the NBA in the past. For example, Kobe Bryant was an admitted cheater, or even Magic Johnson, who got HIV for sleeping around too much in the 80s.
Perk understood a day later that he was in too deep with his comments and offered an apology. “Anthony Edwards is one my favorite players in the League if not my favorite player. I apologized privately so I’m apologizing publicly to the young for my comments on First Take yesterday,” he posted on X.
“My bad young fella. I was not taking a personal shot at you but I could see how it could have been taken that way,” he concluded his public regret, just as the Minnesota guard fell shot of his first NBA Finals for a second-consecutive year.
After facing elimination, the Ant-Man promises to come back stronger next season. “I’m going to work my butt off this summer,” Edwards shared after his team’s 124-94 Game 5 loss to OKC on Wednesday. “Nobody’s going to work harder than me this summer. I’ll tell you that much.”
