The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired a gritty, hard-working veteran in Patrick Beverley — a player who would very likely fit well with franchise legend, and the ultimate competitor, Kobe Bryant.
Beverley has made a name for himself as a candid, no-nonsense player who most teams hate to play against. And the 34-year-old has promised to keep up the same mindset in L.A., leaving everything on the court to help the Lakers get back among championship contenders.
Beverley’s competitiveness resembles Bryant’s Mamba Mentality to an certain extent. And while describing his favorite Kobe moment, the new Purple and Gold guard said he sought validation from L.A.’s icon around the time he started his NBA career, via the Lakers’ Twitter account:
“I think we played the Lakers in Houston and ex-teammate of mine — championship winner here, Trevor Ariza — I don’t know if it was a call or the next day I was like ‘Hey, TA, what does Kobe think about me?’ Like, you know what I’m saying? He was like, ‘Oh man, he likes you a lot. He thinks you’re a dog.’ Not hearing Kobe say that but hearing another person say that through Kobe was my ‘Okay, I finally made it. I’m excited’ moment. I know it’s not a great story, but that’s my Kobe story.”
Just like Bryant’s toughness and perfectionism set the tone for the Lakers back in the day, new head coach Darvin Ham hopes L.A. will try to emulate Beverley’s attitude in 2022-23.
“I think he’s gonna be a lovely addition to our ballclub and a great tone-setter, along with everyone else that we have already in terms of how we want to play and getting back to where we need to get back to,” Ham said.
Ham explains how Beverley will encourage accountability on Lakers
Ham has made it clear he wants the Lakers to be a monolithic group of players who keep each other accountable. And the head coach said he can see Beverley helping him foster accountability on in L.A.
“He connects, he’s fearless,” Ham said. “He’s gonna be able to say what needs to be said in the right way to our big dogs as well as our younger players.
“In acquiring him, that’s one of the biggest things that stood out about him. You know, he stands for the right things. He’s not selfishly motivated. He’s all about winning and all about the right things. And he practices that on a daily.”
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