Minnesota Timberwolves veteran Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook go way back. As a matter of fact, these two have perhaps one of the most long-drawn-out feuds in the NBA today. There's absolutely no love lost between these two and just recently, Pat Bev revealed how Russ once caused permanent damage to his career with a single comment.
Before anything else, we need to provide some context about the age-old beef between these two. It all could have started nearly a decade ago during an incident in the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs. Beverley was still with the Houston Rockets at that time, and they were going against Westbrook's Oklahoma City Thunder. Pat Bev lunged to steal the ball under Russ right as the latter was calling a timeout. It did not look intentional (Beverley appeared to be going for the ball), but unfortunately, Westbrook ended up tearing his meniscus on his right knee. It was a season-ending injury for Russ and his Thunder ended up losing in the next round of the playoffs.
Westbrook was visibly upset right after the play as he instantly knew how bad the injury was. It looked like he wanted to have a go at Beverley, who had already made his way to the Rockets bench. This was one of the first major encounters between the pair and it's very much possible that this was when the bad blood started.
Fast forward six years later to the incident that Beverley claims “damaged” his career. At that point in time, Westbrook was already with the Rockets and on one particular occasion, Houston superstar James Harden dropped 49 points all over Beverley and the Los Angeles Clippers. It was an opportunity for Russ to rekindle an old flame and he made sure to call Pat Bev out right after the game:
“Pat Bev trick y’all, man, like he playing defense,” Russ said at that time. “He don’t guard nobody, man. He just running around, doing nothing.”
Apparently, these comments stuck with Beverley. As a matter of fact, the Timberwolves guard waited three years before coming back with his counterpunch against Westbrook:
I remember when somebody said all I do is run around and I trick y’all 😂 well my boy is The Real Magician this year.
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) February 10, 2022
Beverley was more than happy to bring up Westbrook's statement earlier this year as he criticized Russ' poor play with the Los Angeles Lakers this season. It just felt like absolute vindication for the Timberwolves veteran over Westbrook's three-year-old comments, which as it turns out had a lasting impact on Beverley's career.
In a recent episode of JJ Redick's The Old Man & the Three podcast, Beverley revealed how Westbrook's 2019 remarks damaged his reputation in the league. Apparently, players and coaches from around the league took Russ' statement as facts:
“I call that perfect timing, divine timing,” Beverley said of his clap-back comment on Russ (h/t Peter Dewey of Lakers Daily). “You know people looked at me differently? People around the NBA, coaches, players, like after that people were just taking the ball just going at me.
“I’m like, ‘What the f—?’ All because of what one person said, and that’s how the media is. If one person says one thing, that’s how they take it. And they take it just for that. People really looked at it like, ‘Yeah, maybe this motherf—er don’t play defense. The only thing he does is run around.’
“So, obviously, I had one bad game. ‘Oh Russ was right. I knew this motherf—–; the only thing he did is run around and stuff like that.’ You know, it’s no fun when the rabbit gots the gun now.”
Beverley built his career over his reputation of being a relentless defender and apparently, Westbrook hit him right where it hurt the most. This is exactly why it felt like sweet revenge for him when he saw Westbrook struggling mightily with the Lakers this season — and the Timberwolves combo guard just couldn't help but call Russ out for this.
Be that as it may, Beverley claims that the damage had been done and that to some extent, there's just no fixing that:
“He damaged my career,” Beverley said. “Coaching staffs and players, fans, they looked at me way different. They looked at me like, ‘You know what, he don’t play defense. He just yells and run around,’ and held onto that, and some people still do.”
What has been made abundantly clear here is that these two are not friends. This appears to be the type of beef that goes beyond the confines of the basketball court. Beverley and Westbrook just don't like each other and they both appear to be holding onto a grudge against each other. Whether or not this beef will be resolved anytime in the future remains to be seen.
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