Damian Lillard and Patrick Beverley have become teammates just one year after their beef blew up during the middle of a game.
When the Blazers faced the Lakers in January 2023, the pair had a colourful exchange that included Beverley calling Lillard a “soft a** n***a” and Lillard saying to Beverley “I’ll beat your a**.”
Just a year ago, this interaction between Damian Lillard & Patrick Beverley happened😂:
Bev: “Soft a** n****, you ain’t about none of that”
Dame: “And I’ll beat your a**”
Now, they’re teammates in Milwaukee. pic.twitter.com/ZwX9sxMpVF
— LegendZ (@legendz_nba) February 8, 2024
Now, in a rather awkward development, Beverley has been traded to Lillard’s Milwaukee Bucks.
Speaking on the Pat Bev Podcast right after breaking the news of his own trade, Beverley said he was determined to bury the hatchet.
“I gotta get my relationship right with Dame, it’s time to win a championship,” he said.
Lillard, on the other hand, had this to say about the trade:
“First, I want to say I’m sad to see Cam [Payne] go,” he told Chris Haynes. “We developed a friendship that I cherish.
“As for Pat, he brings an edge and a defensive tenacity on the perimeter that we need. There are not many players who bring it on a nightly like him. I look forward to working together. Our past personal issues don’t trump an opportunity to win a championship.”
The good news here is that Beverley has experience when it comes to becoming teammates with a former enemy and has shown he can successfully mend relationships.
He famously had a near decade-long feud with Russell Westbrook, which began when Beverley dove into him during a game in 2013 and caused Westbrook to suffer a season-ending knee injury.
Then in 2021, they became teammates on the Lakers and not only squashed their beef, but formed a close bond.
So as savage as Beverley can be to his opponents on the court, clearly its nothing personal and he’s always willing to make amends when needed.
READ MORE: Damian Lillard Opens Up After First Game Back in Portland