Lakers News: How Patrick Beverley Responded To Marcus Smart's DPOY Award
New Los Angeles Lakers point guard Patrick Beverley feels some type of way about the Boston Celtics point guard Marcus Smart nabbing Defensive Player of the Year honors for the 2021-22 NBA season.
It looks like, even prior to his suiting up in the purple and gold, the 34-year-old 3-and-D vet apparently didn't have much love for his Boston Celtics counterpart.
Beverley, a 2017 All-Defensive First Team selection while with the Houston Rockets and a two-time All-Defensive Second Teamer, noted that he was excited a backcourt player finally received the honor, after years of frontcourt defenders dominating the category. But "Mr. 94 Feet" also acknowledged that, when he heard the announcement as the starting point guard of the Minnesota Timberwolves, he was somewhat envious that Smart's name was called ahead of his.
In an interview with Golden State Warriors power forward Draymond Green released today for the four-time champ's podcast The Draymond Green Show, Beverley leveled with the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year regarding his thoughts surrounding the 2022 award winner:
“Part of me was pissed the f— off, Dray... I ain’t gonna lie, bro. I’d be a fool not to sit — from a competitor’s standpoint — I’d be a cap sitting on here telling you I wasn’t pissed off when that happened... Not from like, I don’t want him to get it — from like, ‘Damn, I’m happy a guard got it, but damn, I’ve been sitting right here. I’ve been sitting right here for years.’ But I respect it. A guard got it."
The 6'3" Smart, along with center Robert Williams III when he was available, served as the anchor for a stellar Boston defense that helped take the team all the way to the NBA Finals last year.
For 2021-22, the Celtics sported the second-highest defensive rating in the league (106.9 points allowed per 100 possession) and the best opponent points allowed per contest at 104.5.
