LeBron James takes action after getting called out by Kendrick Perkins

Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James unfollowed former NBA big man Kendrick Perkins on X (formerly known as Twitter) after the latter called out the 39-year-old for his recent comments about Kyrie Irving.

Ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, James said that he is “so f—— mad” that Irving is no longer his teammate.

Perkins played with James and Irving on the Cleveland Cavaliers for a short period of time. He appeared in 17 games with the Cavs during the 2014-15 regular season and averaged 2.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists per contest.

The 39-year-old Perkins also logged one game with the Cavaliers during the 2017-18 regular season, his swan song in the NBA, though Irving was a member of the Boston Celtics by that time.

James’ former partner in crime in Irving didn’t play well in the opening game of the 2024 NBA Finals between the Dallas Mavericks and Celtics. He dropped just 12 points on 6-of-19 shooting from the field and missed every one of his five attempts from 3-point range.

Irving’s Mavericks ended up getting blown out by a final score of 107-89 on Thursday night. Celtics star Kristaps Porzingis was dominant on both sides of the ball against his former team, considering he finished with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor along with six rebounds and three blocks in under 21 minutes of action off the Boston bench.

In NBA playoff history, the team that wins Game 1 of a series comes out on top 77.8 percent of the time, meaning the odds are against the Mavericks to win their second title in franchise history.

But at the same time, Irving knows what it takes to mount a comeback in the championship series. He was a member of the Cavaliers when the team managed to defeat the Golden State Warriors in seven games in the 2016 NBA Finals after trailing 1-3 in the series at one time.

Game 2 of the 2024 NBA Finals is scheduled for Sunday night in Boston.