Why is kendrick perkins not playing

Now, if the Celtics end up winning Game 7, they'll render this entire article moot. Seriously, stop reading this if the Celtics have won the title. But if the Lakers end up winning Game 7, here's the question that hasn't been asked yet: Will Perkins' injury detract from the Lakers' championship in any way?

That's not to say the title will go down with an asterisk in the record books—obviously, injuries are a natural part of sports, no matter how unfortunate the timing may be. The Celtics will still dress 12 players for Game 7. They'll still have 48 minutes to go out, compete and win a championship. If the Lakers emerge victorious, they'll have earned every bit of their back-to-back titles.

Despite all of that, will this series end up becoming one of the greater "What if? If there's one thing athletes cherish about winning a championship, it's the challenges they overcome in their ascent to the title. The emotion you see pouring out of athletes on the trophy podium comes from those players knowing they spilled every drop of sweat, blood, and energy they could humanly muster to achieve their goals.

Athletes also love beating the best to earn their championship s. When Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson lock horns, the title ends up meaning more. Had Magic gone down in Game 6 of the '84 Finals, would Celtics fans hold that '84 championship in such high reverence?

Unfortunately, OKC would end up losing the next four games. The following off-season, Durant would sign with Dubs, who was coming off a season. Smith and Jeff Van Gundy. A year-old from Mumbai. A huge Basketball fan who regularly consumes hours of basketball content, whether it is matches, debates, or analysis. Some of my other interests include CrossFit, watching documentaries, collecting sneakers, and trying out different types of food cuisines.

So while Perkins only brings down 2 offensive rebounds a game, his defensive rebounding presence would have prevented the Lakers from gathering all those rebounds. Still, the Celtics had the lead and let it slip out of their hands. The Lakers battled back and eventually won the game. Things happen in the NBA , just because It happens to the losing team, doesn't mean that the winning team didn't deserve the win.

The Lakers played confident down the stretch while the Celtics just looked like they were out of gas. I'd like to think that the Celtics have the depth to recover from an injury to a starter. Both Glen Davis and Wallace could have made themselves a presence. Rasheed and Garnett played well, but Garnett was hardy a force on the glass bringing in only three rebounds and Rasheed was dismal from beyond the arc.