It didn’t take very long for Chicago Bulls guard Patrick Beverley to become an annoyance for the Los Angeles Lakers fanbase.
In his first game back in Los Angeles since the trade deadline, Beverley was up to his usual antics against his former team. In the fourth quarter, Beverley hit a turnaround floater over LeBron James and proceeded to hit the Lakers star with the “too small” gesture.
When asked about the play, Beverley chalked it up to living in the moment and enjoying the Bulls’ victory against the team that traded him, via Broderick Turner of L.A. Times:
“I do it to everybody,” Beverley said. “I was just having fun, getting lost in the game. Just getting lost in the game, having fun, man. We’re not construction workers. We’re not guys that have to get up at 4 o’clock in the morning. We’re professional basketball players. It’s all about having fun. That’s what we tried to do tonight, well, what I tried to do tonight.”
The former Laker added that it was fun to see old colleagues and even thanked the organization for the opportunity:
“I was just playing basketball, trying to get lost in basketball,” Beverley said. “Yeah, it was fun, man. Tonight was fun. Obviously, it’s good to see some old teammates, old coaching staff. The opportunity coach Ham [and] Pelinka gave me when I was with the Lakers never goes unforgotten. Always grateful. Fortunate to get a win tonight.”
While Beverley attributed the play to him having fun, one can’t help but feel there was a little extra motivation for him considering how he’s alluded to some drama behind the scenes after being dealt away. Outside of some vague comments, Beverley didn’t stop at shading the Lakers and coaching staff as he went on to say that they misused him during his time there.
Whatever the case may be, the purple and gold have no time to waste thinking about Beverley as they’ve got their own problems to deal with. They’re back down to the No. 9 seed and must win out in their last seven games of the season if they hope to stay in the Play-In Tournament.
Fortunately, they have a good opportunity to have the last laugh on Beverley and the Bulls as their rematch is set for Wednesday.
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LeBron James made his long-awaited return against Chicago and there were some possessions where it was clear that integrating him wouldn’t be perfectly seamless. Troy Brown Jr. even acknowledged the reality that he and the Lakers are going to have to adjust to James being back in the lineup.
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