‘LeBron needs to stop,’ says former NBA champion after Steve Nash becomes James’ podcast co-host

LeBron James started his podcast Mind The Game with JJ Redick as his co-host. However, that partnership ended when Redick became the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, Bron will continue the podcast with another former NBA player: Steve Nash. Unexpectedly, this confirmation triggered a strong response from Kendrick Perkins.

“LeBron James needs to stop,” Perkins began on ESPN. “I’m so sick of him with this ‘Oh, how the league is covered’ because he wanted to be covered a certain way… Everything that comes out of LeBron James’ mouth ain’t the (expletive) gospel.”

The 2008 NBA champion with the Boston Celtics acknowledged: “I’m a big LeBron fan since 1998.” However, that didn’t stop him from delivering a sharp critique of the Lakers star. “We’re in 2025, it’s a different era. (Expletive), you have to adjust,” Kendrick remarked.

“Here’s the thing, the coverage of the NBA, in my opinion, has been the same since I’ve arrived in the NBA, since I grew up as a youngster watching the NBA,” the former center explained. “Magic Johnson, was he not criticized? Kobe Bryant, was he not criticized? Michael Jordan, was he not criticized? Allen Iverson, he was criticized. In today’s game, these players are so sensitive, it just don’t make any damn sense.”

Kendrick Perkins attends the Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game during the 2022 NBA All-Star Weekend at Wolstein Center on February 18, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Perkins on Nash’s selection as LeBron’s co-host

Kendrick Perkins weighed in on the decision to choose Steve Nash as the new co-host of James’ Mind The Game. “The one thing I will say, sharing the locker room with LeBron James, being LeBron James’ teammate, he’s one of the brightest basketball minds I’ve ever been around,” Perkins began, reflecting on his time as a teammate of James with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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“OK, you lose JJ Redick, and you go out and get Steve Nash. I would never question Steve Nash’s IQ or his intelligence when it comes down to the game of basketball,” Perkins clarified, before questioning the decision and naming other former players who, in his opinion, could have taken the role.

“But Richard Jefferson just got hired on our A-Team to cover the NBA Finals, he’s smart as hell. Channing Frye, who won the championship with LeBron James, who does NBA TV, he is intelligent as hell. Phil Handy, who LeBron won two championships with, who’s now doing his own thing, he’s intelligent as hell. Hell, Draymond Green, no one could ever question his basketball mind or his basketball IQ, he’s smart as hell,” Perkins said. “So, what I’m getting at is, why none of those guys, LeBron? These are your guys, why none of those guys on Mind The Game? And I’ll leave it at that.”