Getty Patrick Beverley #22 of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The flames of competition have been stoked between former Los Angeles Lakers guard and current Philadelphia 76ers starter Patrick Beverley and his former teammates, specifically Austin Reaves.
Beverley says he is still not over Reaves hitting him the “too small” celebration after sinking a basket while the former was with the Chicago Bulls.
“Every time I see the Lakers until I retire, wherever team Austin Reaves is on, I’m on his a**,” Beverley said on “The Pat Bev Pod with Rone” on November 29. “For me, that from him, in Chicago? In the hood? The same street I went to high school on? You talking about the project buildings that they knocked down is right behind us. … You got a lot of b****. But say less.”
The Lakers also won the matchup 121-108.
“It’s cool,” Beverley said. “He going to feel wrath from now on. I’m picking his a** up 94 feet. I don’t give a f***. I don’t give a f***. Straight up. And it’s not personal, just business.”
The taunt was retribution for Beverley getting LeBron James with the same move in the first meeting between the outspoken point guard and the team he began last season with just days earlier. The Lakers traded Beverley to the Orlando Magic during the roster overhaul at the deadline. Orlando waived Beverley who signed with his hometown Bulls for the rest of the season.
He signed a one-year, $3.2 million contract with the Sixers in free agency.
When the Sixers and Lakers faced off on November 27, the result was a 138-94 victory for Philadelphia. The loss was the most lopsided of James’ career, something he was none too happy about afterward.
But a clip of Beverley harassing Reaves on defense made the internet rounds, offering some personal get-back.
Patrick Beverley Got Austin Reaves Back
“I got a chance to kind of get AR back a little bit,” Beverley said. “And I know him, and if I know him well, he is sharpening his iron until when we played them in March. And … I got the leather belt out also. I’m sharpening my s*** too. … So I know the game’s gonna be lit next time we play them. I’m excited.”
Pat Bev has Austin Reaves in HELL @PatBevPod @patbev21
Surely the boisterous veteran is looking forward to picking the trash talk back up.
“I ain’t f****** guarding [D’Angelo Russell] bum a**,” Beverley said, revealing the chatter during the first meeting. “I’m guarding AR tonight. I’m on some s*** like that. I’m making it obvious. … We just going back and forth.”
The two teams will meet again for more of what Beverley termed “friendly competition”, facing off on March 22 in Los Angeles at Crypto Currency Arena where the Lakers are 7-2 this season.
“It’s all love,” Beverley said. “That’s exactly how it’s supposed to be.”
Austin Reaves ‘Loves to Go Left’
Beverley also offered up what he considers to be little-known information about Reaves’ game, something that he says he used in the more recent meeting.
“I close out on him – boom. But I close out him going left. He loves to go left. People don’t know that,” Beverley said. “He goes left, he gets to grab your arm, go left, pump fake to his hesi-pull (jump shot). So I sit on the left hand for like a second and a half. But then you quickly see, I switch right back to the other side, make him go right, which he don’t like doing.”
Austin Reaves and Pat Bev getting chippy 👀
“I know the shot clock coming down. So I know it’s going to be either a fade or some type of something,” Beverley said. “I know you can’t pass in that position.”