A former Los Angeles Lakers player has claimed that he helped the Minnesota Timberwolves establish a winning culture this decade.
According to Patrick Beverley, he is a key player who put the Timberwolves back on the NBA map during his one year there in the 2021-2022 NBA season.
Beverley expressed happiness at seeing Minnesota reach two Western Conference Finals in the past three years and have been a perennial contender in the West.
“I feel emotional. I’m happy that Minnesota got there. I made a promise to everybody in Minnesota when I first got there that we were going to make the playoffs,” Beverley said on The Thanalysis Show.
“So imagine having all these goals the year before and you’d be able to scratch all of them all one by one until you get to the final goal of making the playoffs. So yeah, my emotions were overwhelming. You know, I had family there, you know, and I really put on for the city of Minnesota.”
“I don’t know if people know this, but they haven’t missed the playoffs since I got there. Two Western Conference Finals. They haven’t missed the playoffs from me being there until now.”
Patrick Beverley Believes He Is Part Of The Minnesota Timberwolves Resurgence
Beverley said he is just a part of it, not the whole, but he believed he played a key role in building the current culture in the team.
“They have not missed the playoffs. I’m not saying it’s all me, but I started something in Minnesota for sure,” he said.
Beverley led the Minnesota past his former team, LA Clippers, in the 2022 Play-In Tournament to clinch the Western Conference’s seventh seed.
He celebrated wildly by jumping on the announcer’s table, crying, and yelling at his former team.
The NBA later fined Beverley $30,000 for using profanity during his postgame comments about the Clippers.
He played 58 games, 54 of which he started, averaging 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.
In July 2022, Minnesota traded Beverley to the Utah Jazz as a key salary-matching piece in the blockbuster deal to acquire Rudy Gobert.
The Timberwolves then dethroned the Denver Nuggets in the following year to reach the West Finals before losing to the Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks. They again reached the West Finals in the following year, losing to the eventual 2025 NBA champions New York Knicks.
This year, the Timberwolves lost in the second round against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
Where Are Minnesota Timberwolves And Patrick Beverley Right Now
The Minnesota Timberwolves are a vastly different squad right now, having acquired former All-Star LaMelo Ball to pair up with Anthony Edwards.
The team is still with Rudy Gobert and has recently signed Jonathan Kuminga to be his frontcourt partner in the upcoming season, after trading away Julius Randle and Naz Reid.
Now, Beverley has signed with a French club in August 2026 after playing the previous season with PAOK Thessaloniki in Greece.
Beverley last played in the league during the 2023-2024 season with the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks.
Beverley, however, remained in NBA circles, being active in offseason workouts with current NBA players and appearing on different NBA-related podcasts and shows.
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