It is now being reported that Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley was one of the more emotional individuals during the emergency players meeting held on Wednesday. So much so, that the 32-year-old veteran had a bit of a verbal confrontation with National Basketball Players Association president Michele Roberts.
Reports state that Beverley was unhappy about Roberts' discussion pertaining to the financial ramifications of canceling the rest of the season. Beverley allegedly interrupted her mid-speech, saying how he disagrees with Roberts' logic. Roberts tried to reason with Beverley, but according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Beverley was having none of this. The Clippers guard interrupted again, and this time around, some senior players had to intervene:
Roberts asked politely if she could continue with her point, and Beverley responded, “No, I pay your salary,” sources said.
This caused an uproar with Paul, Haslem and others, who intervened and told Beverley that disrespect would not be tolerated, sources said.
Patrick Beverley is one of the feistiest players on the court, and as it turns out, he is just as intense outside of it. It is clear that tensions were running high throughout the meeting, given the huge predicament the players were in, and it's not surprising that an outburst transpired.
Then again, it could be argued that Beverley was disrespectful with his comment, particularly with the unnecessary barb pertaining to Roberts' salary.
This Beverley incident is a good representation of how emotional the players were throughout the discussions. True enough, their emotions seem to have gotten the better of them, as they were not exactly able to accomplish much during that meeting.