Kendrick Perkins very quietly went from a young 18 year old the Celtics took a chance on, to a fixture in the Boston sports scene. He was in the middle of his 8th year with the Celtics when he was traded. Only a few other Boston athletes have a longer tenure with their teams. (Brady, Faulk, Pierce, Youk {but only if you count his time with the Paw Sox, am I missing anyone else?) Perkins (aka Perk, aka KP) was not a flashy player and at times was a statue on offense, but his toughness, rebounding, and defense were all key factors in the Celtics Championship run and his injury in game 6 last year may have been in a big factor in the game 7 loss. Perkins always played hard and he fought through injuries. Furthermore, by all accounts he was a good guy on and off the court. He often looked angry on the court especially after a bad foul call, but it did not look like tough guy posturing. When Perk looked pissed it was because he was working his ass off and getting banged around down low or there was  a bull shit foul call. The Celtics may be a better team after this trade (I am not too sure about that, they need  another big man), but they will have lost part of the fiber that made them who they are either way and an underrated athlete in the Boston sports scene. I wish nothing but the best to KP in OK. In fact, I predict that the will be a major help bring toughness to balance off Durant's scoring flash.