old article on Kendrick Perkins

[Celtic4Hire@xxxxxxx]

12/24/01: bIt's nights like these when Kendrick Perkins realizes he has it
all. Even if two important parts of his life are missing, it's nights like
these
that help Perkins realize he has the world on a string, just like he does a
basketball. He won't go home to the warm embrace of a proud mother. He won't
feel the proud slap on the back and hear the hearty "attaboy" from a father.
That's just how it's been since Perkins was 5, about the same time he started
playing basketball. Throughout a basketball career that has some projecting
Perkins as the next Shaquille O'Neal, Perkins has not had what many take for
granted. He thinks about what is missing from his life, sure. He thinks about
what
life would be like if his mother had not been murdered and his father had not
ditched the family. He sits at home sometimes and wonders why his parents were
gone from his life before he ever really knew them. But nights like these at
Beaumont Ozen High show just how much the best young big man in the country
has
mended a broken heart. They show how Perkins has become more than the soul of
the Golden Triangle's basketball culture.



He has become the personification of this community's close-knit ways. He has
become the picture of promises kept and determination defined. "Now I
understand why some things happen," Perkins said. "I had people that took
excellent
care of me. I don't miss a lot of things, because I never really had them."

Nights like these help the big kid with an NBA future realize that what he
has had through most of his 17 years -- a surrogate father for a coach and
grandparents whose tough love pointed him down all the right paths -- has made
him
a man among boys off the court as much as on. Perkins never knew his father,
former Lamar University star Kenneth Perkins, who left the family when Perkins
was 18 months old. Perkins' mother, Ercell Minix, was murdered in a bizarre
scene at a beauty salon where she worked when Perkins was 5.

"It was just some kind of argument," said Ozen coach Andre Boutte, who
attended Hebert High with Perkins' mother and was a close family friend.
"Something
happened and she was shot." There are times Perkins wonders why his mother was
taken away. There are times Boutte will run across a picture of Minix and
show it to Perkins. The kid's eyes light up. He asks Boutte questions about
his
mother, about her personality and her dreams.



"I remember her and I've thought about her," Perkins said. "When she died, at
first I didn't take it that hard. I didn't know really what was going on and
I was at my grandmother's house so much anyway because my mom was working. It
was sad, but my grandma and my grandpa raised me right. I knew I was missing
something from my life, but my grandma and grandpa are excellent people. They
took care of me." As for his father, who Perkins has been told is living out
of
the country, Perkins says he does not hold a grudge and considers the man out
of his life forever. "He's never contacted me, and I really don't have any
feelings for him," Perkins said. "I'm not mad. I don't trip over it. I don't
even wonder about where he is or what he's doing. "People ask me and I just
say,
`I don't know the man. I don't know where he is, and it doesn't bother me at
all.' I've got my family here. I've got people that help me -- coach Boutte,
my
grandparents." This circle of love is the reason Perkins always has had
everything he's needed. And soon, he figures to have the kind of riches and
fame
few ever do. It is a Golden Triangle of a different sort: Perkins with his
will
and talent, his grandparents with a caring, disciplined hand and Boutte with
guidance and teaching.



When Perkins began school, his grandparents, Raymond and Mary Lewis, scraped
together enough money to send their grandson to Our Mother Of Mercy Catholic
School. Raymond Lewis was a construction worker and Mary Lewis worked
part-time
as a maid, so it wasn't always easy paying for tuition. But they managed, and
Perkins remained a popular fixture at Mother of Mercy, where he was a shy,
favorite "big kid" among the nuns and teachers. By fifth grade, Perkins was
deep
in his faith and growing out of his clothes, often kidded for being "the
world's tallest altar boy." He learned discipline and the importance of
academics,
and he remains an honors student today at Ozen (which is on the former Hebert
campus).



By the end of sixth grade, Perkins stood 6-2 and was being guided on the
court and off by Boutte, who constantly checked on Kendrick, opened the gym
for
him and took a special interest in this young son of a woman Boutte briefly
dated while at Hebert High. "Not in my wildest dreams could I have thought
that
things would turn a complete circle and I would end up coaching him at the
same
school where I went," Boutte said. "To see him come along so far, it's
something. To go to the same house where you went as a kid to visit (Minix) or
pick
her up for a date, and now you're there for this kid and you think of him like
a son." It's days like these that make you realize that long before he cashes
his first NBA paycheck, Perkins has it all.



The buzz at Ozen High begins more than an hour before tip-off as the line of
fans craving tickets to the big rivalry game against Central snakes around
Ozen's sparkling new gym. Talk inevitably turns to Perkins -- fans projecting
whether he will turn pro or talking about the 13 blocked shots he had in his
last
game or raving over his scoring prowess. When the Panthers trot onto the
floor, with the 6-11 Perkins striding confidently at the back of the line,
some
2,200 fans jammed into the gym stand and cheer, swaying to the beat of
cheerleaders clapping in unison. By the end of the night, the Panthers have
another
victory and Perkins, after being double-teamed and sandwiched most of the
night,
has a hard-earned 15 points and 10 blocked shots. "He does everything you can
expect of him, but he wants more," Boutte said. "He wants to improve every
day." That's why weeks like the one approaching might show just how far
Perkins'
talents can take him. He and Ozen will test themselves against some of the
best high school basketball teams in the country at the Academy National
Invitational at the Campbell Center.



Perkins is being scouted by NBA teams, even though he is only a junior. He
has an array of post moves and defensive skills some consider NBA caliber. And
with broad shoulders and plenty of room for more bulk on his 260-pound frame,
a
player like Perkins has become a rare commodity at any level. "He's a true
five man," Boutte said. "He's not one of these 6-10, 230-pound guys that
people
try to turn into a center. He's from the old mold, the true big man. They're
hard to find." He is an extraordinary shot-blocker. He has soft hands, 3-point
range with his jumper, strong power moves and sharp passing skills. "You have
to think big with him," Boutte said. "For him, it's like challenging the kid
in the classroom. You'll always have some kids that have a little bit more to
offer than others, but if you keep him on the same plane as the other
students,
then mediocrity sets in. We constantly challenge him, and he constantly rises
to the challenge."



It all seems to be a product of Perkins' Golden Triangle of commitment at
home. "My family and the coaching staff has taken care of me all the way,"
Perkins said. "They've meant everything to me. Someday I want to take care of
them."
Perkins is widely regarded as a sure NBA lottery pick after next year, and
given his background he would seem to be the epitome of a hardship case. He
has
hinted that if after next season scouts project him as a top-five NBA pick, he
will take the leap. But college life also is tempting. "I dream about going
to college and then going to the next level," he said. "I want to take care of
my family and the coaches (financially), but you can't rush these decisions.
You have to think on them a little bit. Coach and I made a little rule. All I
do is hoop and take care of school, and he'll take care of the rest." Perkins
has received letters from virtually every major college program in the
country,
but Boutte has been careful to shield him from too many outside forces that
might try to sway his decision. A year ago, after Perkins guided Ozen to a
36-0
record and Class 4A state championship as a sophomore, his stock took a
remarkable leap. And after attending the five-star A.B.C.D. summer camp and
dominating this year's senior class of big men, Perkins earned a reputation as
the
best big man in the country.



This week, Perkins will open the Academy National Invitational against New
York's Rice High School and 7-3 center Shagari Alleyne. Other nationally
ranked
schools in the tournament include New Jersey's St. Patrick High and 6-10
center Grant Billmeier; Midwest City (Okla.) and 6-9 Sheldon Williams; Oak
Hill
Academy (Va.) and 6-10 Sani Ibrahim; and De La Salle (Calif.) High and 6-9 Joe
Grant. NBA scouts from virtually every club have requested credentials for the
tournament, no doubt so they can cast a critical eye on the likes of highly
regarded players such as Midwest City's Williams and Oak Hill's Carmelo
Anthony.
But all eyes also will focus on the big kid from Beaumont. "It's the reason we
play, to go out there and play against these teams," Perkins said. "I like
playing against competition. It's no fun if you're just playing against
(smaller) post players. I like to face a challenge." He's faced them his whole
life.
He's had to do it without a mother and with an absentee father, but a Golden
Triangle of love has helped Perkins realize he has it all. "I've told him,
`Make
your father proud. Even though you don't have those feelings for him, even
though you don't know him and the longer he's away the tougher it gets to let
him back into your life, do something to make him proud,' " Boutte said. "Just
because certain things happen, Kendrick uses it to work harder. He uses it as
a
motivation. That's something Kendrick has always done and I think he'll
always do." - Houston Chronicle