Photo by midwestsports.com.
Big men Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls and Kendrick Perkins of the Oklahoma City Thunder exchanged some heated words inside the Thunder’s locker room late Thursday night.
After OKC’s 107-95 win, Noah’s former teammate with the Bulls, Thabo Sefolosha entered the Bulls’ locker room to talk to Noah and other Bulls personnel. A few minutes later, Sefolosha brought Noah back into the Thunder locker room, which was still filled with reporters waiting to speak with Thunder stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
That didn’t sit well with Perkins, who immediately lashed out at Noah’s presence before chasing him out of the locker room.
According to a transcript from The Oklahoman, which was recording an interview with Sefolosha at the time he brought Noah to his team’s locker room, Perkins had the following testy exchange with Noah:
Perkins: “They just let anybody in the locker room?”
Noah: “C’mon man.”
Perkins: “I’m just asking though.”
Noah: “C’mon man.”
Perkins: “Just let anybody in the locker room now?”
Noah: “You want me to wait outside?”
Perkins: “I’m just saying, though.”
Noah: “If you want me to wait outside, I’ll wait outside.”
Perkins: “Get your ass up outta here.”
Noah: “Aight.”
The two players then crossed paths again outside the locker room. More words were exchanged as Noah walked toward the Bulls’ bus, but ultimately nothing else transpired.
The Bulls have an open policy regarding former players walking into their locker room. Former players go in and out all the time. Judging from this exchange, the same policy does not exist with the Thunder.
