Jared Dudley And Patrick Beverley Get Into Sparring Match Over Twitter
Lakers' Jared Dudley and Clippers' Patrick Beverley got into a sparring match of sorts on Twitter on Wednesday.
The exchange started after Dudley commented on a tweet by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski in which he said that injuries are especially a concern for non-guaranteed playoff teams because they don't have the luxury of easing players into games.
Tweeted Dudley: "Not enough talk about soft tissue injuries with basically 2 weeks of full court 5-5 to prepare of 3 month potential season."
Beverley apparently disagreed with Dudley, tweeting, "Again basketball is a year-round sport. We don’t wanna hear that sh*t. Check [basketball]."
Dudley was taken aback by Beverley's take.
"I don’t know what you talking about," Dudley tweeted. "Season happening! Believe that! But if you don’t think we as athletes should be talking about protest, injuries, COVID then you might want to sit this convo out bruh."
The 31-year-old Beverley also recently weighed in after multiple NBA players -- including Kyrie Irving, Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley -- questioned whether players should participate in the resumption of the season in Orlando or if it would distract from the movement against racism and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death.
"Hoopers say what y’all want," Beverley tweeted June 14. "If @KingJames said he hooping. We all hooping. Not Personal only BUSINESS #StayWoke."
Dudley, 34, has been very active throughout the COVID-19 pandemic on social media, weighing in on his thoughts on whether NBA players should be allowed to leave the bubble, commenting on how much money players stand to lose if they don't partake in the season and taking it upon himself to advise younger players on how to navigate these unprecedented times.
In a conference call in late May, Dudley acknowledged that the extended hiatus hurts older teams such as the Lakers, though he said he still likes his team's chance of winning a championship.
"I like our size," Dudley said at the time. "I like our chemistry. And I think chemistry is a huge factor because some of these teams that made trade deadline moves to try to win a championship, they haven’t seen each other as much. We talk on a consistent basis. We know what everyone is doing. And we’ve definitely prepared for this moment."
With the season set to resume July 30 at at Walt Disney World's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Dudley and Beverley might have a chance to settle their differences on the court.
The Lakers are atop the Western Conference with a record of 49-14, 5 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Clippers (44-20).
The Lakers and Clippers have never met in the playoffs.
The Lakers are 16-time NBA champions, while the Clippers have never made it past the second round of the playoffs.
