On Monday, Kendrick Perkins boldly claimed that he was the reason for Ja Morant's recognition in the league. His comments received a lot of backlash on the internet, including from "Speakeasy" podcast hosts on Monday. However, against the rest of the hosts questioning Perkins's comments, Emmanuel Acho came to the former NBA player's defense with a long-forgotten Kobe Bryant's praise for Perkins. In 2022, Perkins claimed that after the 2008 NBA Finals loss against the Boston Celtics, Bryant praised his defense. As per the former NBA player, the late LA Lakers legend said that he was "one of the best post defenders" he has played against. Against the questions alluding to Perkins's credibility, Acho, the player-turned-analyst, recalled Kobe Bryant's praise for Perkins. "It was Kobe who said Perkins was one of the best big defenders in the game," Acho said. "...Kobe Bryant's opinion on Kendrick Perkins should be more important than ours, sitting in the studio.""What you all are doing is as bad as Perk is doing. You have the audacity to think you all know so much about basketball that you will discredit a top 10 player of all time in Kobe Bryant, one of the most cerebral players that the game has ever seen, who credited Perk."During his appearance on the 'Out The Mud' podcast, Perkins said that his relationship with Ja Morant had soured over time.The 2008 NBA champion said that he had supported Morant since the start of his career. But their relationship soured when he started to call out the Memphis Grizzlies star for getting in trouble for his off-court issues. However, it was Kendrick Perkins's next comment that was largely decried on the internet. Perkins said that he was the reason that fans "recognized" him."Guess what? Not only does [getting in trouble] make you look bad, it makes me look bad because they recognized you because of me speaking highly of you," Perkins said. "It ain't no coincidence that you went from having three games on ESPN national television, that you had 52."Ja Morant throws with a fiery response to Kendrick PerkinsKendrick Perkins's comments were met with ridicule on the internet. But it was Ja Morant's response that made their beef even more public. The Memphis Grizzlies star reposted Perkins's comments with a fiery response."you da reason for my notoriety perk? come on dawg . 😂 you showing em why ion fw yo kind," Morant wrote on X.Ja Morant is still one of the most recognizable faces in the league today. However, his off-court troubles have taken a bit hit on his overall image.