Patrick Beverley has spent the last few days rifling through takes about NBA things on ESPN. Most notably, Beverley has had a whole heck of a lot to say about the Phoenix Suns no-showing in Game 7 against the Dallas Mavericks, with a whole lot of hating on Chris Paul mixed into what he’s had to say.
Plenty of folks around the game, like Damian Lillard and Matt Barnes, weren’t a fan of how Beverley used the time to go after Paul on Tuesday. But ESPN brought Beverley back for a few more appearances on Tuesday, and during a cameo on Stephen A’s World, Pat Bev had some things to say about the Los Angeles Lakers.
Patrick Beverly says if he was on the Lakers this season, they would have made the Western Conference Finals.
“Nobody goes. Exact same team… no discredit to LeBron James, [but] who’s the leader?” pic.twitter.com/8rutVdw577
— ProCity Hoops (@ProCityHoops) May 17, 2022
“If I was a free agent and I played for the Lakers, [we’re] going to the playoffs, goin to the Western Conference Finals,” Beverley said.
Smith got Beverley to say that he could have helped the Lakers get there if they were the exact same team, and expressed that he believed he’d bring one specific thing the team lacked.
“And no discredit to LeBron James, but he’s doing so much, who’s the leader?” Beverley asked. “They had success cause there was a leader there. [Rajon] Rondo was there [for the 2020 championship], at the time he was the leader. Who’s the leader?”
Beverley believes the team lacked someone who would tell James where he had to be and what he had to do “on a consistent basis,” and that he’s willing to say those sorts of things to anyone.
“It’s not about me scoring 20, it’s not about me having 15 dimes, I wanna win,” Beverley said.
The Lakers ended this season 33-49, good for 11th place in the Western Conference.