Who Does Dwight Johnson Have a Beef With
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley is the walking epitome of the type of player that you'd love to be teammates with but hate going up against.
The 6-foot-1 defensive irritant, after all, carries a massive chip on his shoulder each time he takes the floor. Beverley had to prove himself time and time again just to make it to the NBA, paying his dues overseas and the G-League before carving his blue-collar identity in the big league.
The 32-year-old guard plays the game with such feverish fashion. While his no-nonsense, in-your-face approach just rubs a lot of players the wrong way, Beverley has since made significant strides to become a decent knockdown shooter as well. But there's no question that his defense will always be his trump card.
It doesn't matter if he's guarding LeBron James or Kevin Durant while holding a massive size disadvantage. Beverley will throw everything but the kitchen sink to get the job done.
If he succeeds, prepare to get an earful of some good old fashion trash talk. Heck, opposing players are not safe from even taunting even when Beverley is wearing street clothes on the bench, just like what happened during their recent game against the Atlanta Hawks.
While he is a beloved figure in the Timberwolves locker room, Beverley certainly made himself a lot of enemies around the NBA.
Here are three people with the most beef with Patrick Beverley.
Russell Westbrook
This rivalry will truly stand the test of time. To simply put it, Westbrook and Beverley are just not fond of one another. Given that they play the same position in the unforgiving Western Conference, the two equally animated personalities are bound to clash one way or another.
While Westbrook is undeniably the more talented player, Beverley is just not the type of guy to back down. Their disdain for one another started in the 2013 NBA Playoffs when Westbrook's Oklahoma City Thunder took on Beverley's Houston Rockets in the first round.
Westbrook tore his meniscus in Game 2 after Beverley lunged at him during a dead ball. An extremely infuriated Brodie slapped the scorer's table in frustration after feeling something pop in his knee. OKC went on to win the series, 4-2 but Westbrook was ruled out for the rest of the postseason.
The two figured in a testy back-and-forth in the ensuing years and were often had to be separated by their teammates.
In 2019, Westbrook, who was then with the Houston Rockets took a shot at Beverley, who was then with the Los Angeles Clippers, over the latter's supposed overhyped defensive prowess.
"Pat Bev trick y'all, man, like he playing defense," Westbrook said. "He don't guard nobody, man. It's just running around, doing nothing. All that commotion to get 47."
Beverley and Westbrook will certainly have more faceoffs in the coming years. Safe to say, this bad blood isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Damian Lillard
Beverley always marks the opposing team's best player, and he's had several brushes with Lillard. His antics against the Portland Trail Blazers superstar seem to go into overdrive when the NBA Playoffs kicks in. Ever the instigator, the 2017 All-Defensive First Team member even gets on the nerves of the usually calm and collected Lillard.
That rivalry heated inside the NBA Bubble in Orlando, Florida, when Beverley mocked Lillard after the All-Star guard missed two clutch free-throws against the Clippers in a regular season game.
Beverley, who did not suit up and was watching the game from the bench, taunted Lillard by flashing the "Dame Time" gesture after his uncharacteristic blunder.
Patrick Beverley taunting Dame after he misses both potential game-winning free throws pic.twitter.com/ZIUjVbQm6R
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) August 8, 2020
Beverley added more salt to the wound, as he copied Lillard's "goodbye" send-off after the Clippers took home the W.
Here's Patrick Beverley waving goodbye to the Blazers pic.twitter.com/woKdeA3nqv
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) August 8, 2020
The gritty guard was not done after the game, as he posted several memes about Lillard. The Trail Blazers star barked back, claiming Beverley and Clippers teammate Paul George were just salty since Rip City eliminated both guys in the NBA Playoffs in the past seasons.
Good thing the Clippers did not meet the Trail Blazers shortly after that incident, as Lillard went on a scoring rampage in the ensuing games.
Michele Roberts
Seems like opposing players are not the only ones Beverley likes to antagonize.
The seven-year veteran irked several members of the National Basketball Players Association when he reportedly disrespected NBPA executive director Michele Roberts during a closed-door meeting last year.
In the midst of potential players' strike during the 2020 NBA Playoffs following the shooting of Jacob Blake, the league and its players sat down to find a solution. Tensions were clearly high that day, following the Milwaukee Bucks' unannounced plan to boycott Game 5 of their first round series versus the Orlando Magic.
According to several witnesses during the meeting, Beverley was interrupting Roberts throughout her speech as she discussed the financial ramifications of exiting the NBA Bubble.
The high-ranking NBPA official asked politely to continue speaking, but Beverley fired back with a nasty insult.
"No, I pay your salary," the Clippers guard reportedly shouted. NBPA officers Chris Paul and Udonis Haslem quickly came to Roberts' defense and lambasted Beverley for his disrespectful tone.
Clippers center Ivica Zubac insists that Beverley did not utter those words. Further reports, meanwhile, said Beverley already reached out to Roberts after the incident and settled their differences.
Source: https://clutchpoints.com/3-people-who-have-the-most-beef-with-patrick-beverley/
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