Basketball: Former NBA player Kendrick Perkins, wife get revenge on kids for $26k Fortnite bill

Kendrick Perkins. Photo / Getty

Kendrick Perkins and his wife, Vanity, ended up getting back at their kids for racking up $26,000 worth of Fortnite charges on their credit card.

Appearing on the "Pardon My Take" podcast on Thursday, the former NBA centre was asked if he ever had a conversation with his children about the charges, which he told ESPN got his card declined while trying to buy something at a store.

Perkins said his wife was the "enforcer around the house," but that they teamed up for a prank to teach their kids a lesson.

"So they went to school and right before school was let out, what we did was we went to the pawn shop and we bought a PlayStation, an old one for like 30 bucks," Perkins, 35, said.

"So we bought one that looked exactly like theirs and we threw it in the pool. And when they got home from school – we hid the one that they had because they were punished – so when they got home from school we made them go out and look at it.

"And we left it in there for like a week. And every time they would go, they would literally break down in tears. Like, no exaggeration! I'm talking about balling out in tears and I was loving every second of it."

Perkins, who last played for the Cavaliers in 2018, made nearly $90 million over the course of his 15-year NBA career.

It didn't mean he was happy when his credit card statement arrived.

"I hate video games. My kids drive me crazy with it," Perkins told ESPN's Hoop Streams last week.

"In my house there's nothing but Fortnite, NBA2K – it just drives me crazy."

While spending several hours in front of a television screen is excusable amid the COVID-19 outbreak, Perkins revealed his kids had splurged over $26,000 on in-game extras, such as costumes and weapons.

Kendrick Perkins. Photo / Getty

"I go to the store to buy something, credit card declined," Perkins explained.

"I get my credit card bill back. Come to find out, I got $26,000 worth of Fortnite bills on my credit card.

"It was from buying skins every day, whatever that is. I don't even know what it is."

Ironically, the game is free to download and play, but lures competitors into purchase added features. It is estimated over 250 million people have downloaded Fortnite worldwide.

Perkins played 782 NBA games during his 15-year basketball career, winning an NBA championship with the Boston Celtics in 2008.