Never one to shy away from an outspoken opinion, ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins discussed the controversy surrounding the Houston Rockets’ Dillon Brooks comments by standing by the Rockets’ small forward.
Brooks raised eyebrows and drew backlash during one of the post-game interviews of this titanic battle with the Golden State Warriors. When asked about Stephen Curry’s injured thumb, he candidly said he was targeting it: “If you’re going to play the game injured, whatever you’ve got, it’s all about the game.” “If I had an injured ankle, I would attack that every single time.” Perkins, for one, backs these comments.
Perkins Weighs In on Brooks’ Approach vs. Curry
Perkins opined, “Dillon Brooks is right, everything’s in play in the postseason,” “…he should be swiping at that thumb of Steph Curry, I would! Just to play mind games.”
It’s interesting to hear a former player’s perspective on this. He’s not breaking any news. Regardless of the sport, this isn’t the first, and won’t be the last example of testing an opponents ailment for competitive advantage. There isn’t anything wrong with that per se.
“I’m with Dillon Brooks on this … If I’m a defender I’m going to attack those wounds.”@KendrickPerkins discusses Steph Curry’s thumb injury ahead of Rockets-Warriors. pic.twitter.com/F4JjvsVzW7
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 3, 2025
The controversy surrounding it stems from how open the intent is. The game’s ‘dark arts’ is not breaking news, but being so candid about your intentions likely is. It’s probably best to keep those intentions somewhat under wraps.
Especially when the target is Curry, who represents all that is good in the game regarding elite skill, leadership, and sportsmanship.
Furthermore, Coach Steve Kerr leapt to the defense of Curry in his postgame, expressing confidence that the league will soon outlaw contact on players’ shooting hands after the shot is released. “It’s only a matter of time before someone breaks a thumb or a hand.”
This makes sense for the league to address for players’ safety, as there is currently no rule to stop contacting a player after the follow-through shooting motion, only in his landing area.
However, Perkins didn’t want to hear anything from Kerr: “You have a player in Draymond Green who chokes people out!” That’s also fair from Perkins; people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, as they say.
An aspect that makes this series fascinating is that it possesses Draymond Green and Brooks, two guys known around the league to push the competitive boundaries if necessary to help their team win.
Warriors vs. Rockets Battle Heads to Game 7
While the back and forth continues regarding where people stand on the fairness of Brooks and Perkins’ comments, a great series heads to its conclusion on Sunday.
It looked like the Warriors were in full command up 3-1, only for the Rockets to overwhelm the shellshocked Warriors with utter dominance on both ends of the court to tie the series as we head to Houston for the decider.
The Warriors are dazed and on the ropes, while Fred VanVleet and the great coaching of Ime Udoka have the Rockets on the brink of triumph. Amid the controversy, it’ll be fascinating to see if Curry has the last laugh on Brooks in the decider.