Kendrick Perkins goes off on AAU basketball: 'It's not even about basketball anymore'

There has been a lot of criticism towards AAU basketball in the last couple of years from current and former NBA players. Obviously, there is something wrong with AAU, and Kendrick Perkins is the last person who spoke out against the AAU system and how it's run. Former NBA player and current analyst went to social media to break down what he saw in the AAU tournament in which one of his sons competed.

Perkins is critical of AAU

Apparently, all hell broke loose at the tournament in which he saw people and players fighting and teams cheating their way to winning the tournament. Some squads are even bringing older players to play against the younger competition to increase their chances of winning, which is not the competitive spirit you want in these tournaments.

One of my sons got an AAU tournament, and we lost in the semifinals to a great Memphis team. I don't know what is going on with this AAU basketball no more because when I was playing these types of things I witness over this weekend, this wasn't going down when I was playing. They had two fights break out today in the gym. Players are fighting in the stands in front of kids that are running around the gym playing. They got parents fighting, teams getting disqualified, teams cheating. Older players are being brought to play against younger groups just to win the trophy. What are you teaching your kids?

Kendrick Perkins, via LinkedIn

AAU tournaments are ridiculous

Perkins didn't stop there and said young kids who are participating are behaving horribly, cursing each other out, which is no way to behave in such a tournament. This behavior starts at home, and Perkins pointed out that he would not let his son behave this way. On top of that, he believes the tournaments are rigged and need serious improvement on all possible levels.

Yall aren't teaching them to have any type of morals or no competitive spirit. Ya'll teaching them how to cheat, and then on top of that, I'm hearing kids cursing kids out there on the court. I'm talking about 10,11-year-olds, and you have to be learning that from the crib. If my son said anything out of character, it's going to be him and me when we get back to the house. This AAU stuff is ridiculous; it's not even about basketball anymore; this is a business. Teams are doing whatever just to win a trophy, and it's getting out of hand. I had to come in and address the problem because I had to leave the gym with a headache. I'm in the middle of the game, and on the next court, it's two grown men fighting over a game. Kids are watching these guys fighting. All you people out there that are running the AAU tournaments, ya'll need to clean these up. Ya'll out of control, man.

Kendrick Perkins, via LinkedIn

Perkins mentioned that everything that happened in the tournament was a disgrace for the people organizing these events. Even former NBA player Gilbert Arenas talked about the AAU and how it's a horrible system that doesn't teach the kids how to play the game the right way. AAU league needs a serious change on so many levels because that is the only way the kids can benefit and develop their skillset accordingly. Perkins has the right to be mad if he even witnessed half of the things he mentioned because that is not a healthy environment for kids that want to hopefully one day become professional athletes.