It takes a big man to admit he was wrong. In the case of Kendrick Perkins, 6-foot-10 and 270 pounds, to be exact.
Appearing on the Road Trippin’ podcast this week, the former NBA center-turned-ESPN analyst addressed recent speculation that one of his former teams, the New Orleans Pelicans, might be ripe for relocation. And while Perkins shared the same belief as far back as 2022, the 2008 NBA champion has since reversed course.
“I’ve barked up that tree before and it was a mistake on my part,” Perkins said. “I said that the Pelicans they need to just sell the franchise and relocate and do all of this. And damn it, the fans, they got on my heels like a pair of church socks. And I thought about it — I was wrong. The fanbase down there is actually pretty damn good. They just waiting on the Pelicans to do something.
“I get it. You have the Saints and everybody’s looking forward to football and football is king. But damn it, you could make your way.”
Perkins even went as far as to express optimism for the Pelicans’ outlook for the 2025-26 season, pointing to Zion Williamson’s potential and the presence of head coach Willie Green.
“I believe they’re going to be just fine,” he said. “They finally have a truthful leader — or leaders, should I say — in that organization. And as far as the Pelicans being a young squad and making noise, I’m all in on that. I’m all-in on the Pelicans.”
“I barked up that tree before and it was a mistake on my part… The fan base got on my heels like a pair of church socks… I was wrong, the fan base is pretty damn good. They’re just waiting for the Pelicans to do something”
— @KendrickPerkins on the Pelicans relocating pic.twitter.com/K6M6Cl0Xhq
— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) July 29, 2025
Perkins’ comments come just days after Bill Simmons floated the idea of the Pelicans potentially relocating during an episode of his eponymous podcast. While The Ringer founder had previously been adamant that the NBA will soon expand to Las Vegas and Seattle, he no longer seems to believe that’s the case with the league’s new media rights deal having shifted its thinking.
That, however, doesn’t mean that Seattle and/or Las Vegas won’t soon be getting a team. And when it comes to relocation candidates, New Orleans certainly stands out.
“I don’t mean to start panic on New Orleans basketball — I’m also not sure there’s enough of a fanbase in place to even care that much,” Simmons said. “This is an experiment that has not worked for 50-plus years in New Orleans with professional basketball. And if you and I owned a team and they asked us what we thought and I was like, ‘well we definitely have enough players to go to 32 teams. That doesn’t mean we should. We’re making so much money from the media rights, I’m not even sure what you could give me back that would make it worth it.’”
While this would hardly be the first time that Perkins and Simmons have disagreed, they aren’t necessarily having the same conversation here. It’s one thing to say that the Pelicans stand out as a likely relocation candidate, it’s another to question whether its fanbase deserves to lose its team (although they certainly don’t seem to agree on the latter).
Either way, it’s difficult to ignore that the prospect of the Pelicans potentially playing elsewhere has become more prevalent in recent weeks. And while Simmons may currently believe that’s the right move, perhaps he’ll change his stance once the team’s fans get on his heels like a pair of church socks.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.