Man, Patrick Beverley hates the Warriors. He’s basically picking right up from where he left off last season, when the then-underdog Clippers pushed the Warriors to a competitive six-game series in the first round and Beverley started beefing with Kevin Durant.
The balance shifted in the offseason, when the Warriors lost Durant and the Clippers got Kawhi Leonard, so what resulted on Thursday was a blowout win for the Clippers in the inaugural game at the Warriors’ brand new Chase Center.
Reader, let’s be clear: Patrick Beverley loved it.
The Clippers had fans going for the exits early — again, in the very first game that the Warriors are playing in their new arena after making the move across the Bay from Oakland to San Francisco — and Bev had all kinds of trash to talk.
Thought that was all? Nope. On his way off the court, some Chase Center employees caught strays when Beverley started cracking wise about a reality check for the Warriors after ‘cheating’ to get KD. (The Warriors were able to sign Durant in 2016 thanks to an anomalous spike in the salary cap resulting from a new national TV deal for the league.)
For most of his career, Beverley has played for lower-level playoff teams, such as the Houston Rockets before acquiring Chris Paul or last year’s Clippers. Never before a contender.
Now that guys like Kawhi and Paul George are on his team, Beverley’s fire is going to hit never-before-seen levels. We could be in for an incredible year of pesky on-ball defense, but even more importantly, of Patrick Beverley running his mouth at anyone and everyone.
