“Unfortunate situation that should never have happened,” Beverley said on the Pat Bev Podcast. “What I did was bad, and that should never happen. I have to be better and I will be better.”
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported the day after the incident that the Pacers fan yelled a rather mild taunt at Beverley as the team broke out of a huddle, referring to the Bucks’ vacation plans as they were about to be eliminated from the playoffs.
“Cancun … Cancun on three,” the fan reportedly said.
Beverley, however, stated there was more said than those four words before he threw the basketball at the fan.
“Let’s just say it was more than, ‘Cancun on three,'” Beverley said. “Let’s just say it was more than that.
“I’ve been called a lot of stuff in this league. I haven’t been called that one. … The things that were said to me, I could’ve gotten four or five fans kicked out.”
Pat Bev talks about what transpired at the end of the Bucks vs Pacers game
Beverley also stated security at Gainbridge Fieldhouse asked him if he wanted the fans kicked out earlier in the game, but he didn’t want to give them the boot.
“I’m not the guy to get fans kicked out neither,” Beverley said.
Beverley, 35, will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. If the veteran finds a new NBA home by next season, he likely will serve some sort of penalty from the NBA in the form of a suspension and fine.
The Milwaukee Bucks' ill-fated 2023-2024 season came to an end on Thursday night as the Indiana Pacers eliminated them from the playoffs. The Pacers won, 120-98, sending the Giannis Antotenkounmpo-less Bucks home in six games. Pacers guards Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell combined for 51 points and 23 assists. Their counterpart, Patrick Beverley, played a team-high 40 minutes, equaled his season average with six points, and threw a basketball at a fan.
After the game the media gathered around Beverley's locker to talk to the team's sixth-leading postseason scorer. That was when Beverley looked at ESPN's Malinda Adams and asked if she subscribed to his podcast and informed her that she could not interview him if she didn't.
She laughed it off, likely assuming he was joking, but he actually wasn't. So Beverley then pushed her microphone away and said, "Can you move that mic, please? Or just get out the circle, please for me, please ma'am. If you're not subscribed to my pod I'd appreciate that." She then walked away.
Beverley's unprofessional, childish, and quite frankly, lame request has been widely condemned in the media, but the most shocking part is that this apparently wasn't a one-time thing. According to CBS Sports' Jack Maloney, Beverley "has refused to talk to any of us in Milwaukee who do not subscribe to his podcast since he arrived at the trade deadline."
Malinda is one of the best in the business — a consummate pro. Not to mention one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet.
First the disrespect to Michele Roberts in the NBA Bubble in front of other NBA players and now this… He is who he is. Respect to stellar veteran producer Malinda Adams for her professionalism through that silliness. https://t.co/MLkHm2wfTQ
Some people in the comments (never read the comments!) are arguing that since it's free and easy to subscribe to the podcast, media members should just do what Beverley asks (or just lie about it!), but that misses every possible point. First of all, the NBA has rules about media availability and nowhere in those rules does it say a media member needs anything but a credential to get access. Smashing that subscribe button certainly isn't a requirement.
Most importantly, this is just kind of sad. Sad for Beverley, who needs to force people to subscribe to his podcast. Sad for any media member who caved to this ridiculous demand. And especially sad for anyone who has to listen to his reaction when he's told he's definitely not allowed to do this.
The injury bug continues to bite the New York Knicks, with the latest key rotation member to go down being center Mitchell Robinson.
The team announced Tuesday that Robinson would be sidelined for a minimum of six to eight weeks due to a stress injury in his left ankle. He'll be reevaluated after the provided timeline, though the injury is set to keep him out for the rest of the playoffs.
Robinson joins the likes of Julius Randle and Bojan Bogdanovic among Knicks players who won't be making a return during the playoffs.
Robinson had already been ruled out for Wednesday's Game 2 against the Indiana Pacers. He logged 12 minutes in Game 1's win, scoring two points and providing two rebounds.
He averaged 20.6 minutes per game during the opening round against the Philadelphia 76ers. He featured in five of the six games in the series and provided 3.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per contest.
With the 26-year-old unavailable, it's possible Precious Achiuwa will return to coach Tom Thibodeau's rotation. Achiuwa has made just three appearances in the playoffs but logged a postseason-high 20 minutes when Robinson was sidelined during Game 4 vs. the 76ers.
The NBA’s Last Two Minute report from Game 1 of the series between the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers is going to be a doozy.
The Knicks won the game, 121–117, behind another explosive scoring night from Jalen Brunson, who had 43 points to become the first player since Michael Jordan to score at least 40 points in four straight playoff games. But the Knicks also benefited significantly from several questionable officiating decisions down the stretch in a tight game.
The most crucial and most controversial was the offensive foul call on Pacers center Myles Turner with 12.1 seconds left. The play came immediately after a Knicks turnover gave Indiana new life, with New York leading 118–117 and the Pacers able to hold the ball for the last shot. Tyrese Haliburton brought the ball across halfcourt, guarded by Donte DiVincenzo. Turner came up to set a screen on DiVincenzo and DiVincenzo crumpled to the floor as if he’d been stuck by a cattle prod. Turner was whistled for a moving screen, giving the ball back to the Knicks and effectively ending any hopes of a Pacers comeback. (The Pacers challenged the call but it was upheld on review.)
NO WAY!!! Refs called this an offensive foul on the Pacers. Pacers challenge the call but how is this called with 12 seconds left? #INDvsNYKpic.twitter.com/jlx9DYkyeE
Were Turner’s feet still moving when he set the screen? Sure. Slightly. By the letter of the law, it’s a foul. But it’s a marginal call at best, and not the type of foul that usually gets called at that stage in a playoff game.
“I think it’s best when the players decide the outcome of the game,” Turner said after the game. “I think it’s unfortunate that it happened. We reviewed it; they still called it an illegal screen. But it’s the playoffs, man. I feel like DiVincenzo did a good job of selling it. For the most part you can’t leave the game to be decided by the refs. So we have to take accountability as well. Of course it’s right after the game, I’m a little fresh in my emotions about it, but we know, at the end of the day, we can’t get to that position.
“The Last Two Minute report, we’re all looking forward to that coming out. I think there was two controversial calls. We had to use our challenge on one call on Tyrese [Haliburton]. And then the kickball by Aaron Nesmith that was not a kickball—you can clearly see it on the replay.”
While the moving screen call is debatable, there’s no doubt that Turner is right about the missed call on Nesmith. With 52 seconds left to play and the score tied at 115, Brunson tried to sneak a pass to DiVincenzo in transition. Nesmith deflected the pass, but the officials ruled that he did so with his foot, which is illegal, and the Knicks retained possession. In fact, video shows that Nesmith clearly deflected the pass with his hand, but the call was not reviewable.
The refs called this a kick ball… THE REFS CALLED THIS A KICK BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/ew7zOP8lE7
The blown call denied the Pacers a fastbreak opportunity in the final minute of a tied game. Instead, immediately after the Knicks got the ball back, DiVincenzo hit a dagger three. Crew chief Zach Zarba told a pool reporter after the game that the call was incorrect.
The bad calls weren’t the only reason the Pacers lost. One other reason was that Haliburton made several questionable decisions in the final minutes (he had three turnovers in the last four minutes of the game). But when playing against a quality opponent in a raucous road environment, it’s next to impossible to win when you also have to overcome uneven officiating.
The other game on Monday night was equally interesting, but not equally competitive. In Game 2 of their series, the Minnesota Timberwolves eviscerated the Denver Nuggets, 106–80, to take a 2–0 lead in the series.
The result was notable for a few reasons. First of all, Minnesota was playing without center Rudy Gobert, who was away from the team awaiting the birth of his first child. Even without Gobert, the favorite to win his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award, the Timberwolves’ defense still held Denver to its fewest points since Game 7 of the 2020 first round against the Jazz (an 80–78 win for the Nuggets).
The loss also marked just the second time during the Nikola Jokić era that the Nuggets lost back-to-back home playoff games. The only other time was when the Phoenix Suns finished off a four-game sweep in Denver in the 2021 second round. The Nuggets were nearly unbeatable at home during their championship run last season, losing just one game in Denver (Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat). But the T-Wolves are just that good. Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns were excellent again in Game 2, combining for 54 points on just 32 shots. It’ll be an uphill battle for the Nuggets to come back and win the series after squandering home-court advantage so dramatically.
Murray (top) looked completely frustrated during Denver’s Game 2 loss to Minnesota.
