Kendrick Perkins May Have Spoiled ESPN's Plans For Skip Bayless

ESPN has been pretty quiet about its long-term plans for Skip Bayless. That being said, Kendrick Perkins may have teased what's coming for "First Take."

Bayless made his return to "First Take" this Friday for what was being marketed as a one-time reunion with ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith. They had countless debates during their time together, but Bayless left the network in 2016 to become the face of "Undisputed" on FS1.

After "First Take" wrapped up on Friday, ESPN shared behind-the-scenes photos of Bayless and Smith together.

Perkins tried to be a good teammate and compliment ESPN. However, he revealed that Bayless will most likely return for another episode of "First Take."

"Damn good show," Perkins wrote on X. "Didn't agree with Skip on some of the debates but he's definitely a needle mover!!! I'm pretty sure it won't be his last."

Skip knows how to generate clicks.

During this Friday morning's episode of "First Take," Bayless took aim at his favorite target, LeBron James.

"He is the most mentally fragile superstar I have ever closely observed. The poor man, as gifted as he is, was born without the clutch gene. He's a liability at the late-game free thrown line," Bayless said. "He is – by superstar standards – a poor free throw shooter and poor 3-point shooter. You want to talk about launching LeBricks, he's launched a lot of them. He's had so many epic fails that his billions of blind witnesses scrub from his résumé and sweep under their carpets."

Bayless went on to say that James is ranked No. 9 on his list of all-time NBA players. That claim certainly aggravated a large portion of ESPN's audience.

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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 2:54 PM.