Ian Mahinmi knows jerks on the court when he sees them. He also knows that one team's jerk is another team's asset.
"When I was with the Spurs, I thought Jet was a (jerk),'' Mahinmi said at Mavericks' shootaround this morning. "But he's just a guy who likes to compete.''
So going against Kendrick Perkins, Mahinmi knows that even if it's like the good guys going against the villain to the fans, it's not completely like that with the players.
"I think there's a few guys in the league that want to take that role,'' he said, speaking of the certain disdain Maverick fans will have for Perkins tonight. "For me, everybody asks about Perkins. To me, it's just another guy who competes. I don't see him as a bad guy. He's just somebody who wants to compete and win and play hard. That's it. I respect that.''