In only a few phrases, Patrick Beverley stated all of it.
The NBA veteran and notorious provocateur was traded by the Lakers on the deadline to the Orlando Magic in change for middle Mo Bamba, spending only a half-season in Los Angeles with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. With the Lakers nonetheless struggling to combat for a playoff spot, Beverley sounded off on an episode of “The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone” to debate the workforce’s underlying points.
“It wasn’t basketball,” stated Beverley, who was waived by the Magic on Sunday and is a free agent.
“It wasn’t basketball. It wasn’t basketball. It was different s–t. However different s–t that you simply actually can’t like pin or level out. You understand, comes and goes. You understand, a bit of bit right here, a bit of bit there.”
As of Wednesday, the Lakers are 26-32, 2 1/2 video games again from the Utah Jazz for the ultimate seed within the play-in match. Even with James and Davis wholesome, the playoffs appear to be a stretch – and Beverley appeared to suppose the workforce had points that stretched past the court docket.
Maybe a type of points was Russell Westbrook, who was a brutal slot in Los Angeles for his 130 video games there between 2021 and 2023. The Lakers did commerce him, too, on the deadline, securing numerous items together with level guard D’Angelo Russell in change. Westbrook was despatched to the Jazz, although a buyout is predicted within the coming days.
A supply instructed ESPN’s Dave McMenamin that Westbrook was like a “vampire” within the locker room – a lot to the chagrin of Westbrook’s spouse, Nina, who sounded off on social media in regards to the report.
“That is simply sick ESPN… Russell isn’t any vampire,” Nina wrote on social media. “This additionally slander as a result of anybody who is aware of something is aware of that this couldn’t be farther from the reality.
Beverley defended Westbrook on the identical episode.
“You see how Russ is each recreation day, the primary individual within the locker room. Each single recreation. And I’m on the primary bus. LeBron on the primary bus too. There are some vets within the league that solely take the third bus,” Beverley stated.
“That’s my canine. Lifetime,” he added.
The Lakers have gone 1-2 since Westbrook left the workforce, although that did embody a street victory over the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
It stays to be seen if Los Angeles can rally within the season’s last month-and-a-half, although Beverley doesn’t appear overly optimistic.
