CLEVELAND -- Kendrick Perkins can offer perspective.
The bruising Cleveland Cavaliers center played with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and the rest of the 2008 Boston Celtics that won a title over the Los Angeles Lakers and nearly did so again in 2010.
Perkins also spent five seasons alongside four-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant with the Oklahoma City Thunder, reaching the NBA Finals in 2012 before falling to the Miami Heat.
In February, Perkins joined the Cavaliers and subsequently reached his fourth Finals.
The 30-year-old Perkins said he has never seen any Finals performance that's even close to what his teammate LeBron James did against the Golden State Warriors. James averaged 35.8 points, 13.3 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game, the first player to lead all categories in Finals history.
"That was incredible," Perkins said after his team's series-ending 105-97 loss to the Warriors in Game 6 on Wednesday. "The numbers he put up? During the game, I didn't really realize, but after the game, it was like, 'God d---!"
Those numbers were all the more impressive, Perkins said, considering James was playing without All-Stars Kyrie Irving (knee) and Kevin Love (shoulder).
"Nobody can say that he didn't give it his all, and the numbers back it up," Perkins said. "He came out and gave everything he had. He came up short, we came up short, but he proved to the world that he is the best player on this planet."
Added Perkins, "People around the world can say what they want, but individually, you can't take nothing from him. His numbers speak for themselves and the way he approaches the game. He can switch 1 through 5 on defense. The s--- he brings to the game, you can say he fell short in the Finals or whatever the case may be, but individually, you can't take nothing from him. You can't take nothing from him -- at all."
