Celtics champion claims social media creates similar adversity to Bill Russell's era

Celtics champion claims social media creates similar adversity to Bill Russell's era originally appeared on The Sporting News

Kendrick Perkins has found plenty of success in the media since retiring from the NBA following the 2017-18 season. While the former Boston Celtics center has become a mainstay on ESPN, he has faced plenty of criticism from fans for his questionable takes.

The 2008 NBA champion may have just made the worst take of his broadcasting career -- and, arguably, the worst take of all-time. During a recent episode of the "Road Trippin'" podcast, Perkins claimed that social media creates a level of adversity similar to what Celtics legend Bill Russell dealt with throughout his career.

"Everyone's had their own form of adversity," Kendrick Perkins stated Monday. "Back then, it was racism and death threats, right, but having to battle through the adversity of (expletive) social media as a player elevates right up into there when you talk about mental toughness. People's lives were on the line, but mental health is a real thing and we see so many guys logging off of social media."

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"Everybody's affected in a different way," Perkins continued. "This day and age, a lot of these guys are dealing with their own form of adversity. People can say, 'Oh, they're just soft' or, 'Stay off of social media'. Do you know how (expletive) hard it is to stay off of social media? You're going to glance at social media at least one time a day."

Perkins' co-host, Richard Jefferson, was visibly taken aback by his claim. He pointed out that Russell played in a time where sundown towns still existed and that the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer wasn't allowed to stay in hotels, eat at restaurants or travel with his teammates.

Despite Perkins' claim that it is difficult to stay off of social media, plenty of players have done just that or hired someone to manage their account. Meanwhile, Russell had to deal with neighbors that attempted to persuade a seller not to sell him a house -- going as far as attempting to purchase it themselves to keep him out of the neighborhood.

When that didn't work, they responded by burglarizing his house and vandalizing it by spray-painting racial slurs on the walls. His trophies were damaged and the culprits even went as far as defecating in his bed. While modern players certainly have to deal their own forms of adversity, it is almost laughable to compare social media trash-talk to what Russell experienced.

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