I’m not sure what the Lakers expected after trading for Patrick Beverley.
The veteran guard has a not-so-great history with Russell Westbrook that dates back many years. They have constantly criticized one another, and they aren’t afraid to bring up old beef.
Last season, Beverley even called Westbrook “trash” and then appeared to hold his noise to indicate that the former MVP stinks now. Now that he is teammates with Westbrook, no one was sure exactly how this would work.
When we learned that new Lakers coach Darvin Ham would play Westbrook and Beverley in the same lineup together, we expected chaos. That began to unfold, at least partially, last night.
It's the preseason and I don't read much into anything. But if I were to read too much into something………. pic.twitter.com/Hgcb91PNu5
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) October 13, 2022
During the second half against the Timberwolves on Oct. 12, PatBev called for a team huddle as the Lakers were down by two possessions. Within just a moment, he was joined by LeBron James as well as Anthony Davis and free agency signee Lonnie Walker.
Westbrook, however, puts his hands on his knees and didn’t join the group. He essentially hit Beverley with the “I pretend I do not see it” meme during this one.
Beverley then signaled with his hands for his teammate to join him, but it was a lost cause. Davis even walked over to talk to Westbrook, but by that point, the huddle was deemed useless.
During media day for the organization, Beverley said Westbrook was his best friend on the team. We may be reading nothing into something, but it didn’t certainly seem the case at that moment.
Otherwise, however, it was good to see Beverley exhibiting some leadership because the Lakers lacked fire and passion for much of last season, and the guard is known for his passion. But if Westbrook isn’t going to respect those simple requests like joining for a team huddle, this isn’t going to be pretty.
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