If Kendrick Perkins is on First Take, expect some loud, heavy breathing or sighing into the microphone as he sits and listens to Stephen A. Smith and JJ Redick attempt to make their points.
In April, Perkins blamed his loud moaning and breathing on having the flu. Now he’s blaming it on “being disgusted” with the points Smith and Redick are trying to make. During the first few minutes of Monday morning’s edition of First Take, Redick hilariously called out the Darth Vader-like sounds that were coming from Perkins.
“Perk, is that you moaning in my ear?” pic.twitter.com/EP92TeV8rk
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 5, 2023
“Perk, is that you, moaning in my ear over and over again?” Redick asked after abruptly pausing his assessment of the Miami Heat’s defensive scheme in Game 2 of the NBA Finals to address the hot mic moaning that was going out over the airwaves.
“Yeah, I know!” Smith interjected. “I was getting ready to ask that. You sound like you got sleep apnea, Perk. You alright?”
Perkins quickly admitted the loud breathing was indeed coming from him, adding, “It’s not moaning, it’s being disgusted!”
“It’s a gross noise, man,” Redick said. “It’s a gross noise.”
And it’s not the first time we’ve heard the gross noise. Moaning, breathing, disgust, however you want to categorize it, these strange noises from Perkins are constantly making appearances on First Take.
Dude I was watching First Take and 😂😂 I’m pretty sure the producer left his mic on for this segment you can literally hear him the whole time
— andrew leezus (@AndrewLeezus) April 10, 2023
Stephen A. Smith and Kendrick Perkins with some great analysis of Perk’s loud breathing pic.twitter.com/xevulFp7Lq
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 14, 2023
Perkins has done a great job of transitioning to being a member of the media in retirement, especially on debate shows where hot takes are relished. But there’s still room for improvement, mainly in the area of learning how to use the mute or cough button.
