The Sixers have landed one of the NBA’s most outspoken players in Pat Beverley and the journeyman has revealed why he chose Philadelphia.
Despite the Celtics and Wizards throwing more money at the 11-season NBA vet, he explained the reasoning behind his choice.
“I talked to representatives of mine,” Beverley said on The Pat Bev Podcast With Rone. “It might be Philly. It might be Boston. It might be Washington. Imma have a little bit more money in Boston or Washington. Let’s wait on it. Let’s wait on it. I tell my agent, ‘F*ck it. Pull the trigger. I ain’t gonna wait.’ I like Nick Nurse. Obviously, I took a paycut, but it’s never been about the money. You feel me? It’s always about the basketball.”
Beverley may like incoming head coach Nurse, but he has an even better relationship with former Sixers coach Doc Rivers.
The 34-year-old played under Doc during his time with the Clippers from 2017-2020, so naturally he reached out to his old friend before he chose which franchise to go to next.
“Before I like to make any, like, life decision, I hit Doc. Obviously, you know, Doc is a mentor, Doc is damn near a father figure, Doc is—feel me? Doc is everything. I need something. I need answers. I need help. I hit Doc.
“I hit Doc. ‘I might go to Philly. Obviously, you was there. How’d you like the situation?’ Now this is a Hall of Fame coach that just got fired, and his response, exact words, ‘I love Philadelphia for you. They need you. You will be great with Joel (Embiid). James (Harden), he respects you. You will be great with him. If I had you last season, we would have been a different team.’”
Beverley was traded away from the Lakers to the Magic in the middle of last season but Orlando waived him, so he finished up in Chicago where he was a massive difference-maker.
Setting the tone and energy level on the court is Pat Bev’s specialty, so that’s exactly what he did for Chicago. Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan spoke of Pat Bev’s impact.
“The man does everything,” DeRozan told The Athletic in March. “(It’s) electrifying, especially when we’re at home. It gets the crowd going, and you’ve got to feed off of that when you see a guy sacrificing himself for big plays and to save a possession. It carries over from there.”
Philadelphia also signed former Lakers big man Mo Bamba on Tuesday and signed Arkansas’ Ricky Council IV and NC State’s Terquavion Smith to two-way contracts on July 1.
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