News about the Lakers: Even Patrick Beverley kind of anticipated this when the NBA suspended him.
In a statement, the NBA said that starting point guard Patrick Beverley for the Los Angeles Lakers will miss three games.
As a result, Pat Bev won’t play against the Spurs on Friday and Saturday and against the Indiana Pacers next week.
Beverley himself acknowledged after the game that he regretted the incident and predicted that he would receive some form of punishment for his flagrant cheap shot foul on Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton.
After the fact, the 6’1″ veteran guard said that he was angry with the Phoenix big man for standing over Lakers guard Austin Reaves. Reaves had been knocked to the ground by All-Star Suns shooting guard Devin Booker as the two fought for a rebound late in the Lakers’ eventual loss of 115-105.
Beverly slammed into him hard while Ayton was standing over Reaves and pushed the big man to the ground. Players from the Suns and Lakers were suddenly on the verge of fighting. Beverley was kicked out by the referees, Ayton got a technical, and Booker got a foul whistle.
In its press release, the league said that Beverley’s previous actions over the years were a factor in its decision to give her a suspension rather than just a fine. He actually used the same behind-the-back shove play against Chris Paul in the 2021 Western Conference Finals when he was still with the L.A. Clippers. However, that time it was against the Suns.
I’m not the first to suggest this, but an L.A. club that would likely benefit from fewer Patrick Beverley minutes could use this opportunity to their advantage. Going into the season, yours truly had high hopes for the three-time All-Defensive Team player, who the Lakers presumably acquired in the offseason to replace Russell Westbrook on the Los Angeles roster.
While Westbrook has flourished since being moved to the bench, Beverley’s production has plummeted even though she has effectively replaced Russ as the team’s starting lead guard. Beverley’s most memorable basketball court action this year was that shove.
He is playing a career-worst 27.4 minutes per night and scoring a career-worst 4.1 points per game on a 26.6% field goal percentage. One has to wonder how much of a role he ought to play in the team’s rotation Beverley should play now that he is unable to provide any offensive firepower.
Pat Bev certainly isn’t getting a lot of love from Lakers fans this year, either.
With Beverley inaccessible, one contemplates whether lead trainer Darvin Ham will pick to begin Reaves or Dennis Schröder as point monitor.
Reaves had recently taken over for LeBron James at shooting guard, and Lonnie Walker, who had been starting at shooting guard before, was moved up to small forward. James might come back tomorrow, but maybe now Reaves won’t need to be downgraded.
Schröder is a proud veteran and may be hoping for the nod, despite having been completely erratic in his three games back in the lineup after a preseason UCL surgery. Reaves appears to be the more intriguing and consistent two-way player than Schröder at this point in their respective careers. However, Schröder is the more intriguing and consistent player.
Bobby Imprints reports that Beverley will lose $89,655 per challenge because of passing on these next three games, for a sum of $268,966.