Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook have had a rivalry for years, culminating in the current Timberwolves guard fouling and injuring Westbrook in a reckless action in 2013. Beverley has now spoken about the feud in a podcast.
“He damaged my career,” Beverley said on The Old Man and the Three podcast with JJ Redick, referring to a statement Westbrook made about him in 2019, when the former MVP said Beverley was fooling everyone, just run around and don’t play defense.
“Coaches, players, fans, they all saw me differently after that. They thought, ‘You know what, he doesn’t play defense. He just screams and runs around’ and they stuck with that. Some people still do that.” said Beverley, who is known for his defense and has been selected to the all-defensive team three times.
The 33-year-old didn’t respond to Westbrook’s statements at the time, but did so a few weeks ago when he alluded to Westbrook’s struggles this season. “I remember someone saying I’m just running around tricking people. Well, my boy is the real magician this year,” Beverly wrote on Twitter.
“I call that perfect timing,” Beverley said. “I was having a bad game at the time. People were like, ‘Oh, Russ’s right. I knew that motherf***er was just running around.’ It’s no fun anymore, now the rabbit has the gun.”
Both Beverley’s Timberwolves and Westbrook’s Lakers are currently in contention for play-in spots. There could well be a sequel to the rivalry in a few weeks.
