Patrick Beverley Reveals How Archrival Russell Westbrook Hurt His Career With a Single Quote

There have been some classic rivalries in recent years in the NBA. However, some of them hold a deep history. One of the peak examples is the heat between Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley. While both these players give it their all each night, they don’t quite see eye to eye. In a recent interview, Beverley revealed how a comment by Brodie changed the way the entire league viewed him as a player.

Russ and Beverley are both players with far different roles. However, they both share one objective that is to compete hard every single night. While Beverley is one of the hard-nosed defenders, back in 2019, Russ had a different opinion. After his then-teammate, James Harden dropped 47 points in a win over the Clippers, Westbrook took his time to diss Beverley. He said, “He don’t guard nobody man,. It’s just running around, doing nothing. All that commotion to get 47.”

At first, this statement seemed to stem from their rivalry. However, teams took it differently. While on the ‘Old Man and The Three’ podcast, Beverley explained how this statement affected his NBA career.

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Russell Westbrook causes severe damage to Beverley’s reputation

Each time Westbrook and Patrick Beverley take the floor, the two often go right at each other. This has been the same since their early days in the league. Their rivalry has only grown over the years. With all the attacks coming in on Russ because of his recent performances, Beverley spoke about the tweet he sent out and how the Lakers guard damaged his career.

Beverley explained: “He damaged my career. Coaching staffs, players, fans, they looked at me way different. They looked at me like, ‘You know what, he don’t play defense. He just yells and runs around’. And held on to that, and some people still do.”

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While Beverley does speak about Russ damaging his career, Bev was the first to attack Russ. Their feud started way back in 2013 when the Rockets and OKC faced off in the 2013 playoffs. Westbrook went to the sidelines to call for a timeout. However, Beverley was not ready to let the play finish. He dived right into Russ and got his knee in the process. Westbrook started to hobble but managed to finish the game. But the damage was done. The former MVP had to get three surgeries on his knee to recover.

Only weeks after making his return in 2014, Russ and Pat met once again. And Beverley tried to do the same thing. In a similar fashion, Russell Westbrook was trying to call a timeout, and Beverley went right at his knee. This led to a scuffle between the two. Since then, the two have been bitter rivals.

With all the history between the two, they have both done their fair share of damage. But for the fans, it is always a spectacle to watch these two compete. And there is no doubt it will continue to run this way.