Lakers News: Former LA Point Guard Makes Wild Claim Regarding Time With Team

The first half of the 2022-2023 Lakers season was one of the worst stretches of basketball in franchise history – less by the record, and more by the eye test, clear chemistry issues, and more.

To that end, it's no surprise that Patrick Beverley, who was not good in his time with the organization, had some negative things to say about LA and their fans:

"When I left, they blamed me. They blamed [Russell Westbrook]. We on some of the best teams in the NBA."

Patrick Beverley looks back on his time with the Lakers 🗣️

(via @PatBevPod)pic.twitter.com/ImEmF0g7m1
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 2, 2024

Beverley's comment that people blamed him and Russell Westbrook is true, but fans only did so validly. The two of them struggling immensely on the offensive side of the ball, clogging the floor, not playing well off the ball, and more.

After the trade deadline, LA went 18-9 en route to 2 upset victories in the playoffs and a Western Conference Finals run. The increased spacing and playmaking brought on by key pieces like D'Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura proved instrumental down the stretch, directly highlighting the comparatively negative impacts that Beverley and Westbrook had.

The other component of Beverley's comment, about how he and Russ are now on two of the best teams in the league, is fairly laughable. At the time of this comment, Beverley was playing under 20 minutes per game for the Philadelphia 76ers, who had then-MVP frontrunner Joel Embiid and 26-points per game scorer Tyrese Maxey.

Westbrook is now a bench piece for the Clippers, who have 3 elite offensive players, and while he has played well off the bench, he's a tough player to build around as a non-shooting point guard. He, nor Beverley, were ever going to fit with the Lakers due to their own limitations on offense. They can fit elsewhere, in reduced roles, but not with LA.

Beverley has a reputation of talking plenty of smack in the media, making this incredibly unsurprising.