Kendrick Perkins Dismisses Lakers As Thunder's Biggest Threat - Names Bitter Rivals Instead

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The Oklahoma City Thunder have been the best team by a country mile in the Western Conference in this 2024-25 season. The Thunder currently have an impressive 64-12 record and are the favorites to get to the NBA Finals from the West. The team generally considered the biggest threat to them is the Los Angeles Lakers, but Kendrick Perkins doesn’t believe that’s the case.

Following the Thunder’s 119-103 win over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, Perkins was asked to name the biggest threat to them on “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt.” He went with a team in Los Angeles, but not the one you’d think.

“It’s a team in L.A. and it’s not the Lakers,” Perkins said. “It’s the Los Angeles Clippers. This is a team that has one of the best coaches in the game, Tyronn Lue. This is a team that has James Harden, who has been balling out all season long, made the All-Star team.

“And now they have Kawhi Leonard Jordan, who’s looking healthy again,” Perkins added. “Looking like the Kawhi of old. And then you throw in a sprinkle of the big fella in the middle [Ivica] Zubac, who’s averaging a monster double-double right now, who’s one of the most underrated centers in the game. And you have veterans around them.”

“It’s a team in LA and it’s not the Lakers.”@KendrickPerkins on the Clippers being OKC’s biggest threat right now 👀 pic.twitter.com/FiuF7o71zT

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 3, 2025

Perkins went as far as to pick the Clippers as his sleeper team in the West. There is no denying that the Clippers have been impressive lately, having gone 9-2 in their last 11 games. They now have a 44-32 record this season and are seventh in the conference.

The Lakers, meanwhile, appear to have steadied the ship after a rocky stretch during which they lost eight out of 12 games. They have now won two in a row, with the latest triumph coming against the high-flying Houston Rockets.

LeBron James (23) and Luka Doncic (77) react during a game between the Lakers and Grizzlies at FedExForum.

Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Lakers are now 46-29 this season, and they have two games coming up against the Thunder on Sunday and Tuesday. Those two encounters might give us a better idea of how big a threat they could be.