Ex Timberwolves Pat Bev shaking up Lakers backcourt

Pat Bev forges toughness

Of course, Patrick Beverley is a polarizing player. He can be a solid forge to temper a soft team into a tough playoff competitor. But he lives by fiery words, and that willingness to talk smack has never come with an off switch.

Of course, the Timberwolves are the enemy now. Just one season away from competing with Patrick Beverley, the Minnesota Timberwolves included Pat Bev as one of the players who was sent to the Utah Jazz as one part of the compensation package for All-Star center Rudy Gobert.  That didn’t sit well with Beverley, and that has placed the Timberwolves on his list of teams he will play harder against.

Pre-presason trash talker

Of course, that included plenty of pre-preseason trash talk about his former team:

Well, we know how that one turned out. The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the LA Lakers in what some consider a mild upset by a score of 118-113.  In the final quarter, seldom-mentioned Minnesota Timberwolves backup center Luka Garza put on an offensive clinic, hitting on three of four three-pointers and scoring 15 minutes in just 12 minutes of play.

The fact that Pat Bev called out his former team before the game doesn’t always sit well with teammates. Big talkers are viewed by some as writing checks that they cannot cash when the rubber hits the pavement.  While Westbrook struggled, Pat Bev scored 10 points against his former team, but he did so while hitting only one of five three-point shots, committing four turnovers and three personal fouls.  If you are going to talk big, you have to play big. That is not always the case for Beverley.