Shortly after landing with the Chicago Bulls, Patrick Beverley didn’t waste much time razzing up his former team the Los Angeles Lakers when he said he was going to try and ensure they miss the playoffs.
Beverley and the Bulls pushed the Lakers one step closer to that reality when they beat them to snap their three-game winning streak on Sunday afternoon. Despite LeBron James’ surprise return, Chicago was able to keep them at bay the entire game to put even more pressure on them down the stretch.
Beverley was a thorn in the purple and gold’s side throughout the afternoon and after his team’s win, he threw out an interesting analogy to compare how he’s been used in Chicago vs. L.A., via Brad Turner of the L.A. Times:
“Yeah, you know, if I’m a spoon, [Bulls coach] Billy [Donovan] is using me as a spoon,” Beverley said, smiling. “The Lakers, you know, I was a spoon and they used me as a fork.”
Although Beverley did a lot of trash talking and certainly relished his team’s victory, he did have positive things to say about his time in L.A.:
“We had a lot of fun,” he said. “Obviously, you wished you would have won a little bit more games. But you really can’t put a hand on that. But I had a great time, man. Obviously, LeBron, he has always been my big bro. He was my vet when I came into the league with the Miami Heat. AD [Anthony Davis], he is from Chicago and it’s always love. So, we built a real bond and I’m just happy those guys got it rolling and I’m happy for their success.”
Beverley tried to add more fuel to the fire before the matchup when he posted a picture on social media with Charmin rolls. However, when Darvin Ham was asked about the photo, he took the high ground and thanked the veteran for his time with the Lakers.
“As one of the few cave people that’s still around, I’m not on social media so I don’t see a lot of that stuff. Sometimes it’s texted to me, screenshots or something. But all in all, me personally, I appreciate everything Pat did in trying to do everything myself and my coaching staff asked of him. He’s a hell of a pro and wherever he goes, his impact is felt. I wish him nothing but the best,” Ham said.
It’s fair to say that there might be some hard feelings on Beverley’s side about how his L.A. tenure ended, but the fact of the matter is the Lakers have zero time to address the grizzled guard’s barbs. While the loss to the Bulls was a setback, Los Angeles has a chance to rectify things when they have their rematch on Wednesday.
Patrick Beverley claims he requested trade from Lakers
The Lakers were one of the busiest teams at the trade deadline, executing several moves to get the roster to where it is now. Los Angeles dealt away Patrick Beverley to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Mo Bamba, and Beverley claimed that he was the one that pushed the team to trade him.
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