Los Angeles Lakers guard Patrick Beverley appears to be enjoying the beginning of his time with the team, and he compared it to when he was with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Beverley threw a bit of a dig at his former team, claiming that there is a different respect for Lakers players in Los Angeles.
Patrick Beverley on going from playing for the Clippers to the Lakers: “Very different. Night and day. Walking around the city, you almost get a different respect.”
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) September 6, 2022
It’s Beverley’s persona to ruffle some feathers, and it appears even the Clippers, who he had some of the best seasons of his career with, aren’t off limits.
Beverley played a crucial role for the Clippers from the 2017-18 season through the 2020-21 campaign. During his time in Los Angeles, he appeared in 177 games, starting 144 of them. He averaged 8.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game for the Clippers and helped them make the playoffs in three of his four seasons with the team.
The Lakers acquired Beverley in a trade this offseason with the Utah Jazz. Los Angeles traded away Stanley Johnson and Talen Horton-Tucker to bring in the veteran guard, who should help the team shore up its guard rotation.
Last season for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Beverley averaged 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game while shooting 40.6 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from beyond the arc. He’s been dealt twice this offseason, as Minnesota traded him in the deal that sent Rudy Gobert from Utah to the Timberwolves.
Beverley is a fantastic defender at the guard position, and he should give Los Angeles an edge that it lacked in the 2021-22 season. If the Lakers move on from guard Russell Westbrook this offseason, there’s a good chance Beverley becomes the team’s starting point guard.
While Beverley may feel like he’s getting more respect as a Laker, the Clippers are going to be a force to be reckoned with in the 2022-23 season.
Los Angeles should have a healthy Paul George and Kawhi Leonard in the lineup, and the team improved its depth by signing John Wall in free agency.
Since the Lakers and Clippers share a home arena, this rivalry should be extremely fun to watch in the 2022-23 campaign.
