Patrick Beverley Personally Called ESPN Reporter to Apologize After Locker Room Controversy, Here’s What Happened Next

The final night of the Indiana Pacers vs Milwaukee Bucks saw an extremely upset Patrick Beverley. There were two prominent incidences. One, the altercation with Pacers fans. Second, the issue with the ESPN field producer, Malinda Adams. While both of them received much attention, it seems like the one with Adams received quite a lot of backlash.

After the 120-98 loss, and Beverley’s early exit from the final matchup, it was natural that reporters would be flooding the locker room to get Bev’s comments. And as they did, Pat asked the nearest reporter, who happened to be Malinda, if she was subscribed to his podcast. At a loss as to the relevance of that, she hesitated for a second and said ‘No’.

That was all the 2x NBA All-Defensive Second Teamer needed. “You can’t interview me then,” he told her point blank. Seeing Adams still standing with a mic near him, Beverley pushed it away. By all means, it looked bad. You don’t need us to tell you the kind of response Bev triggered with those actions. However, as he joined Gil’s Arena, Patrick told his side of the story.

The 6’2 guard said that the whole thing was blowing up within minutes of happening. It got to the point where he couldn’t sleep properly after the dismal outing the Bucks had. Without wasting any time, he called the ESPN employee and apologized to her. ” ‘I’m getting a lot right now. I know you probably getting a lot right now. You know that’s not my intention. I never tried to disrespect you.’ ‘Oh I know, P. I know Pat, but you know how the internet is and this and that.’ And it was squashed,” he narrated the conversation to the crew.

Patrick Beverley, in his defense, said that he asks that question to everyone. And it looks like it might have some truth to it too. Apparently, there were other players who are quite well aware of Bev’s rule when it comes to his podcast. “I’m in the locker room. I got teammates, guys, heavy figures… person behind me, ‘y’all know what Pat go say. He go say subscribe to his pod.’ J. Crowder behind me, ‘y’all know Pat ain’t doing no interviews unless y’all subscribe to his pod.’ DeMar DeRozan, ‘y’all better subscribe to that man pod. That man ain’t going to do no sh*t with y’all unless y’all subscribe.'”

Well, from this, it’s clear that Patrick Beverley and his stringent rule were well-known in the NBA circles. But that wasn’t all he had an opinion on. Why did he have such a rule in the first place?

Patrick Beverley makes his reasons clear on media personnel being subscribed to his podcast

According to him, with podcasts and other platforms for athletes, they get to control their own narrative. As opposed to the usual way of things, which as per Beverley is “big media companies, for a long time, you say something, they take, they put it on theirs, they get a ton of following from it.” 

Funny enough, the 35-year-old seems to have quite a good understanding of how controversial players like himself and Draymond Green get extra love from the media. “Anything we say, do, becomes bigger than what it really is. So I want to be able to control my narrative,” Pat stated.

And part of that includes everyone involved to be subscribed to his podcast. Because, once again, from Beverley’s point of view, “y’all be taking what I saying, y’all be taking out a complex, y’all be putting in places and getting all this press from it. And then, I’m sitting back looking like, ‘Damn! Y’all ain’t even showing no love.'” 

This is Pat Bev’s reasoning. While many might not find his arguments to merit any credit, it is what it is. What do you think of Beverley’s statements? Let us know your thoughts!