Kendrick Perkins closes Nikola Jokić championship window: ‘We were so ready to crown this man’

The Minnesota Timberwolves ended Nikola Jokić’s season, and Kendrick Perkins just ended his championship window.

According to Perkins, the 31-year-old Denver Nuggets center is officially done winning championships after failing to get out of the first-round of the playoffs this season. Perkins laid into Jokić Friday morning on First Take, knocking the three-time MVP off any pedestal other analysts may have attempted to put him on.

“We’re not in Serbia. We’re in America. And he got punked yesterday…When we get to talking about top-5 this and top-5 that of all-time. We need to sit back and keep a cool booty.” – Kendrick Perkins on Nikola Jokic pic.twitter.com/i5tuBLC9C7

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 1, 2026

“We’re not in Serbia. We’re in America. And he got punked yesterday,” Perkins ranted. “For this series, he got punked. And we gotta hold him to a level of accountability like we would do quote unquote every all-time great.”

Perkins highlighted Jokić’s recent playoff failures, with back-to-back second round exits before getting knocked out in the first round this season. And not only was Jokić knocked out in the first round, he was knocked out by a team in the Minnesota Timberwolves who were without Anthony Edwards and two additional key rotation players.

“I want to sit up here and apologize,” Perkins continued before issuing apologies directly to Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon. “Because I jumped the gun, just like everybody else when it comes down to disrespecting all-time greats. We were so ready to crown this man and put him ahead of all-time greats because of certain things and numbers he was putting up in the regular season. I get it, he has one NBA championship. And as a matter of fact, I don’t think Jokic is gonna win another NBA championship to be honest with you.”

Stephen A. Smith quickly interjected to note that if Nikola Jokic doesn’t win another NBA championship, it won’t be his fault.

“Well, this series it was!” Perkins pushed back. “He’s gonna take 50% of this blame for this series. He got exposed…when we get to talking about top-5 this and top-5 that of all-time, we need to sit back and keep a cool booty.”

The Denver Nuggets have long accused the NBA media of neglecting Jokić, with Kendrick Perkins already having a history of being at the center of those complaints. Three years ago, Perkins accused Jokić of stat-padding and alleged he was only the favorite to win that season’s NBA MVP award because voters held a bias against the league’s Black players.

In defense of Perkins, he has also called Nikola Jokić the “most skilled center” in NBA history. But all that goodwill Jokić appeared to build with Kendrick Perkins seems to have gone out the window after getting knocked out of the playoffs by an Anthony Edwards-less Minnesota Timberwolves team this season.