He’s the rival you love to hate, but as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard are finding out, Patrick Beverley is an asset when he’s playing on the same team as you.
Whatever NBA team he’s on, Pat Bev brings that dawg to every game he plays.
Beverley finished with just five points along with four rebounds, one assist, two steals and one block in the Bucks’ most recent 124-117 win over the Clippers.
But Lillard knows his skills transcend the stat sheet and after clearing up his beef with Beverley, he’s appreciating his style of play.
“As an opponent, you hate him when you’re playing against him, but on your team, you’d probably love to have someone like that,” Lillard said. “He brings edge to the team… You gotta have some type of belief, toughness, edge. He brings that to our team and we didn’t have a lot of that.”
Dame’s running mate Giannis also had nothing but good things to say about Pat Bev after the win over LAC.
“He’s one of those guys that — sorry for my language — that you say, ‘he’s an a**hole,’” Antetokounmpo told C/P. “But when he plays on your team, like, ‘that’s my a**hole.’ You know? And I love him. We love playing with him. He’s a leader, he knows how to play the game. He’s a winner.”
Causing opponents fuses to get short is Beverley’s special talent, and Giannis says he’s glad to be on the other side of it now.
“I’ve been playing against him for a lot of years now. I don’t think I ever liked playing against him,” Giannis said. “He always comes in, mucks the game. He’s like an instigator, he pushes the buttons, but like having him on your own team, he makes the game easier for us. You know he’s gonna make that extra effort. That extra play, he’s gonna dive on the floor, he’s gonna set a screen for you, he’s gonna get the extra rebound, you know he’s gonna make the right pass. I love playing with him.”