Patrick Beverley has no regrets.
On his “Pat Bev Pod,” the 11-year NBA veteran said he would shove of Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton again if he got the chance after his push-from-behind got the Lakers star a three-game suspension.
“F— that,” Beverley said. “F— him. We not going for that s—. Ask people that’s played with me. Ask superstars that’s played with me. That’s the reason why guys want me on their team … Very unfortunate situation. And if I could play it back again, I would do the exact same thing.”
Beverley claimed it all began before the game started.
“It kicked off when we [did] the tip-off,” Beverley said during the podcast. “I shake everybody’s hand. I put my hand on Deandre Ayton’s hand and he don’t shake my hand. So, something was brewing there from the beginning.”
With 3:55 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Suns up 106-96 on the Lakers during a Nov. 12 game, Beverley was ejected after he shoved Ayton from behind.
The scene unfolded after Phoenix guard Devin Booker was called for a shooting foul on Lakers guard Austin Reaves, and then stood over him while he was on the floor. Ayton also stood over Reaves, which Beverley said prompted him to approach the situation and “protect” his teammate.
After that game, Beverley called it a “very unfortunate situation” to occur on national television.
“Got a person on the ground, two people looking over mean-mugging and puffing their chest out and referees don’t get into it to kind of separate it, control the game, so I’m going to stand up for my teammate,” he said.
Beverley was suspended for three games without pay by the NBA. In a statement, the league noted that the punishment “was based in part on Beverley’s history of unsportsmanlike acts.”
