When it came to Reggie Miller’s call of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Game 7 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, Kendrick Perkins had heard enough.
So much so that the ESPN analyst even went as far as to openly pine for Miller to be replaced by another Hall of Famer on the TNT broadcast.
“Reggie just talking,” Perkins posted to X. “Where’s Bill Walton when you need him[?]”
Reggie just talking. Where’s Bill Walton when you need him
— Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) May 20, 2024
Sheesh.
It’s unclear what Miller said to warrant Perkins accusing him of “just talking” — which, to be fair, is what broadcasters are supposed to do. In the moments leading up to Perkins’ post at 10:06 p.m. ET, Miller discussed the advantage the Timberwolves had by being in the foul bonus early in the fourth quarter, made note of Nikola Jokić making his first 3-point shot of the game and questioned why the shot clock has been reset to 14 seconds after the ball went out of bounds on a Nuggets player during a Minnesota possession.
While Miller might be a polarizing presence on TNT broadcasts, seemingly nothing he said in the lead up to Perk’s post was inflammatory in any way. It’s worth noting, however, that the former NBA center appeared to be openly rooting for the Timberwolves — who he had predicted would win the series — so perhaps he was taking issue with Miller (correctly) pointing out that the shot clock should have remained at fewer than five seconds instead of being reset to 14 seconds after the ball had been knocked out of bounds.
As for Walton, it’s curious that Perkins would invoke the Hall of Fame big man, who calls games for ESPN and not TNT. In any event, nothing about any of this is all that surprising, as the 39-year-old big man has made a habit of going at TNT’s broadcasts throughout this postseason.
