Cavaliers' Perkins, Drake engage in war of words during Game 1
Warning: Story contains coarse language
Drake sat courtside for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors on Tuesday and got awfully lippy with a veteran enforcer from the visiting team.
As the two squads headed into the locker room at halftime, the Canadian rapper and Cavs big man Kendrick Perkins - who was not in uniform - were seen getting into a shouting match on the sidelines. Jose Calderon and J.R. Smith even got between the two to play peacemakers before Perkins went to the back.
"I don't think Drake want that one."
— KG's Area 21 (@KGArea21) May 2, 2018
KG, @Lakers' @kylekuzma, Rasheed Wallace & @AlabamaMBB head coach, @CoachAvery6 talk @Drake and Kendrick Perkins talking during Game 1 😂. #KGArea21 pic.twitter.com/0aLxPwW2YG
Perkins and Drake continued to trash talk one another immediately following Cleveland's 113-112 victory in overtime at the Air Canada Centre.
Drake and Kendrick Perkins exchanged more words postgame pic.twitter.com/Z0rdXDe1uL
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 2, 2018
The two then reportedly got into it in the tunnel, with Drake calling Perkins a "f------ p----" while adding that "I'm here in real life," according to The Toronto Star's Bruce Arthur.
Perkins eventually explained his side of the story and what ignited their heated interactions via a text message to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
"What happened was I was talking to my old teammate Serge (Ibaka) walking into halftime telling him 'We about to win this game,' and Drake butted in talking shit to me. So I said something back to him," texted Perkins.