Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers has no intentions of reprimanding his point guard Patrick Beverley, who became the first player to get fined for flopping in the 2019-20 NBA regular season.
The 31-year-old defensive pest has been fined $5,000 by the league for violating the league’s anti-flopping rules during the 9:00 minute mark of the first quarter in the Clips’ 122-119 victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday. That was the second time Bev got called for flopping this season.
“I’ve not even mentioned it to him or to the team,” Rivers said of Beverley’s incident prior to the team’s match versus the Pelicans on Sunday.
“I just think defensively you gotta be what you are and who you are, and do it with intensity and he does that,” he said, per Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register.
A known irritant for opposing players, Beverley’s in-your-face approach on defense gave him an All-Defensive Team nod in 2017. His over-the-top ferocity on the defensive end sometimes rubs some players the wrong way, but Rivers says his guard is not much different from renowned defenders like Dennis Rodman.
“He’s never been suspended for stuff. You know, and he’s not crazy, but I’m going to say this, the guys like Pat and the Dennis Rodmans, they always know exactly where they’re at,” he shared.
“It’s the people that can’t deal with them that lose their cool. You know it’s rare that Pat loses his cool, I played with Dennis Rodman, can you remember Dennis Rodman ever getting into a fight? I can remember people trying to fight him, and that’s a big difference.”
Beverley is averaging 7.6 points (36.7 percent shooting from the field and 24.2 from three), 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.6 blocks in 14 games.
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