Back in 2024, former Los Angeles Clippers point guard Patrick Beverley claimed on his Pat Bev Pod podcast that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer still had not delivered on a promise the two had agreed upon when he signed a three-year contract with LA in 2019.
From Beverley's story, he said that he let go of a much bigger contract offer from the Sacramento Kings to return to Los Angeles, with the expectation that Ballmer would carry out what they had agreed upon.
“So [when] I signed my deal with the Clippers, I got like a three-year, $50 million [offer] from Sacramento. And I’m like, ‘Nah I’m cool.’ Like, I want to stay with the Clippers, so I take the three-year, $40 mil [deal] from the Clippers,” Beverley said on his podcast (h/t Ryan Glasspiegel of the New York Post).
“We go to the meeting at the Ritz in Marina Del Rey and we agree to the three-year, $40 mil [deal], and Steve Ballmer goes, ‘With that, I’m gonna give you 94 basketball courts that you could choose to put all around LA.’ That’s fire as f–k!”
While this is old news at this point, that particular gripe from Beverley has resurfaced in some sections of social media amid the ongoing controversy that has Clippers superstar forward Kawhi Leonard and Ballmer as main figures.
Beverley played for four seasons with the Clippers from the 2017-18 season to the 2020-21 campaign. During that stretch, he averaged 8.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.0 steal while shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 39.5 percent of his attempts from behind the arc through 177 games (144 starts).
After his stint with the Clippers, the former Arkansas Razorbacks star guard suited up for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Philadelphia 76ers and most recently, Milwaukee Bucks.
In any case, Beverley has made a lot of money and enjoyed a long career in the NBA, with Spotrac listing his career earnings in the league at $82.027 million.
