Patrick Beverley trolled LeBron James with 'too small' then gestured that the Lakers stink
The best thing about someone like Patrick Beverley, who is as great at basketball as he is at trash talk, is that just about anything he does could be taken as a troll and often times you’d be right.
Which is what made the Chicago Bulls’ 118-108 victory in Los Angeles over the Lakers that much more entertaining. Beverley had this game circled on his calendar since joining the Bulls in February and he delivered with 10 points, five assists and four rebounds while spoiling LeBron James’ return from a foot injury.
It was such a classic performance that afterward Beverley had to clear up what he meant as disrespect and what he didn’t.
For instance, he did mean to gesture that James was “too small” after hitting a jump hook over him.
Pat Bev got Bron pic.twitter.com/VsMuxAlCVF
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 26, 2023
Beverley also meant to disrupt Los Angeles’ playoff pursuit. The Lakers are now 37-38 on the season and clinging to spot in the postseason play-in by one game.
Back in February, Pat Bev had one goal in mind.
Today, he hit a huge bucket to help seal the Bulls' win over the Lakers pic.twitter.com/bKzUUoGPcK
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 26, 2023
And, yes, that was Beverley telling Lakers fans how much their team stinks.
Pat Bev sent a message to Shannon Sharpe about the Lakers pic.twitter.com/cJYwf6SLBZ
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 26, 2023
He did not, however, mean to insinuate that the Lakers were as soft as a roll of Charmin toilet paper — as Kobe Bryant once did — which Beverley tweeted about before his trip back to L.A. that was just a happy coincidence.
Beverley on this: “I got paid a ton of money to post something. And I was late posting it so I didn’t want the window to close. I’m not out here to try to troll anybody.” https://t.co/PJjcZ5KOSI
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) March 26, 2023
Funny how things just work out like that for Beverley. He’s gotten so good at trash talk that his comments land even when he’s not trashing anyone.