Kendrick Perkins reminds Bill Simmons about Toronto Raptors 'wager'
ESPN's Kendrick Perkins was right about the NBA's Toronto Raptors and wanted to make sure Bill Simmons remembered he had criticized Perkins for it.
Almost as soon as the 2025-26 NBA regular season officially ended, Kendrick Perkins made sure everybody knew he kept the receipts for Bill Simmons. The former NBA player who's now a prominent commentator in ESPN's coverage of the league sent out a reminder via social media at 2:10 a. m.
on Monday, April 13, that he was right about the Toronto Raptors and Simmons – the former ESPN personality who founded The Ringer website and podcast network , hosts "The Bill Simmons Podcast," and wrote "The Book of Basketball," – was wrong. This particular feud between Perkins and Simmons dates back to June 2025 when Perkins posted a video in which he called Simmons a "fool," among other things, after apparent criticism Simmons had levied against Perkins for predicting the Raptors would be a top-six seed in the Eastern Conference during the 2025-26 season. Simmons, at the time, offered to put a "wager" on Perkins' take.
GIANNIS: Opens up about frustrations, future with Bucks Well, the Raptors will be the No. 5 seed and face the No. 4 seed Cleveland Cavaliers when the Eastern Conference playoffs begin this weekend.
Perkins didn't forget about Simmons' proposition for a bet. It's unclear if either side actually agreed to terms prior to Perkins resurfacing their original back-and-forth on Monday. "Somebody tell @BillSimmons he can just make a donation to my non profit that’s for the youth in our communities that are less fortunate," Perkins wrote on his X account over the original tweet exchange with Simmons.