Pau Gasol Responding To Kendrick Perkins

(Via: L.A. Times)

Ding. Ding. Ding.

That’s the sound of the bell for Round 1.

The bout, of course, is Sunday’s Western Conference heavyweight clash between the Thunder and Lakers. And you might want to keep a close eye on Kendrick Perkins vs. Pau Gasol.

You remember Perkins’ comments from mid-February don’t you? A few days after he had gotten traded from Boston to Oklahoma City, he immediately informed the locals about his disdain for Gasol. A month later, Perk elaborated in ESPN the Magazine, calling Gasol soft and Lakers coach Phil Jackson “arrogant.”

Gasol responded to the comments Saturday when asked by L.A.-area reporters. (see above video).

“Certain players talk too much, from my perspective,” Gasol said. “They should worry about their own stuff. But you can’t control what other players do or what people do. So it’s a tough opponent. We know that. They’ve gotten better, I think. And we want to beat them. If we can beat them up, even better.”

Might want to read that last sentence a second time.

This ought to be fun.

But with bad blood beginning to brew Tuesday and then ballooning into a boil Friday between Perkins and another big man, Denver’s Nene, we’ve seemed to have forgotten that Perk just plain doesn’t like Pau. And this will be their first time locking horns on the hardwood since Perk pulled on a Thunder uniform.