Kendrick Perkins soothes egos, resolves issues in Thunder locker room

[Deb]

NEW YORK – For Kendrick Perkins, the telephone calls from frustrated Oklahoma City Thunder teammates come with a far greater frequency than passes into the post. Sometimes, this is the blessing and the curse of playing with the greatness of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. In victory and defeat, the ball belongs to the NBA's two best 20-something scorers and everyone else is left to sort through the scraps of shots.
"I get phone calls at all hours of the night from different teammates," Perkins told Yahoo! Sports. "And I've got to tell them: OK, you didn't get yours tonight but…

"So OK, take Serge [Ibaka]. I'll tell him, "OK man, you got seven points tonight, then you need to go get eight blocks. Some nights it's not going to be your night, where you can touch the ball. It's like that on this team, especially when you've got scorers like Russ, K.D. and Kevin Martin leading the league in scoring."

Twenty-four hours before Perkins made an immense block on the Brooklyn Nets' Deron Williams in the final minute of the Thunder's 117-111 victory at Barclays Center, Perkins gave a knowing nod and shrugged. "The game ends, you go home, take an hour break and then I know it's mentoring time.
"Guys are gonna call."

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