THE EDUCATION OF KENDRICK PERKINS

A former NBA player reflects on lessons learned as a player, many centering on racism in professional sports and society in general.

Now a sportscaster, Perkins left home just after high school, “leaving behind the ghost of my mama…who was murdered when I was five years old,” and the dim memory of a father who abandoned the family and “didn’t look back—a man from the tribe of Lot.” Though the author was well aware of the barriers facing Black people in Jim Crow Texas, he was somewhat surprised to find them in Boston, where he first played for the Celtics. Perkins was a top-quality player selected in the first round of the NBA draft, but he wisely points out that being great isn’t always enough when battling other great players from around the country. A wise older friend advised Perkins to stay strong while keeping his eyes on the future results of “years of excruciating work [needed] to remake my body, mind, and game to become a serious force in the league.” So he did, keeping a close eye as well on those barriers and learning about those who worked to pull them down. In the latter regard, he writes appreciatively of Bill Russell, who made a point of “never apologizing for being a strong, confident, powerful Black man,” and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who embodied “a self-respect born from introspection and faith.” All spoke for social justice, providing a model that Perkins admits he tempered with problematic rage. “While on some level rage might be clarifying,” he writes, “its unpredictability and intensity cause damage to its host and the people around him.” The author writes pointedly of the need for Black athletes to speak against injustice as they did in the 1960s before being silenced with money and endorsements—here, he singles out Michael Jordan—and to resist racism in all its guises.

A well-balanced blend of activism and memoir that looks far beyond the court and locker room.