Zach Randolph Fined $25K for Kendrick Perkins Confrontation

After Zach Randolph and Kendrick Perkins got into a confrontation last Wednesday, the NBA has fined Randolph $25,000 for approaching Perkins outside the Oklahoma City Thunder locker room following the game, according to Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports:

"

Memphis forward Zach Randolph has been fined $25,000 for confronting Oklahoma City’s Kendrick Perkins in the lockerroom area.

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) November 20, 2012"

While the shouting match between Randolph and Perkins was picked up by microphones, what happened after that is a bit unclear, as Dan Devine of Yahoo! Sports notes.

The feud between Randolph and Perkins is nothing new. Last season in the Western Conference semifinals, Perkins disagreed with teammate Kevin Durant's assessment that Randolph was the best power forward in the league.

Things got even spicier when Randolph said Perkins was "too slow" to defend him, adding, "all Perk can do is foul me," per Chris Tomasson of FoxSports.com.

Perkins, of course, emerged victorious as the Thunder ousted the Grizzlies in the series, but the 107-97 victory on Wednesday was some form of consolation for Randolph.

Well, maybe it didn't clear everything up.

Perkins, as a low-post defender, has a mean streak in him we've seen all too often. Randolph is a low-post force in the league. You add two and two together and you get a good old-fashioned, hot-blooded rivalry. 

Something tells me, even with the fine, this isn't over between Randolph and Perkins. Their back-and-forth staredown is as inevitable as a Rasheed Wallace technical.

We can only hope the next matchup inspires the same kind of tenacity, but it's clear by now that Randolph and Perkins need to keep it under control.