Lakers News: Patrick Beverley's Memorable Comments On New All-Star Colleagues

The new Lakers point guard knows his own bona fides.

During a recent press engagement at the Los Angeles Lakers' El Segundo practice facility, new point guard Patrick Beverley went full Rorschach when attempting to clarify his anticipated dynamic with new All-Star-caliber teammates LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The 6'1" vet has been changing area codes a lot this summer. He was first traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Utah Jazz as collateral in the two teams' blockbuster trade of three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. Next, Utah flipped him to the Lakers in exchange for young guns Talen Horton-Tucker and Stanley Johnson.

When asked by a Spectrum Sports Net reporter about how felt about "playing with" James and Davis in L.A., Beverley felt the need to clarify the context of that preposition.

"They'll be playing with me." "Yeah?" "I made the playoffs last year, they didn't. That's the difference... I'm glad that we get a chance to play with each other."

He's right. Last season, the Lakers weathered major injuries to its ancient cast of veterans, plus some frustrating output from a mostly-healthy Russell Westbrook, and fell out of the playoffs two years after winning it all with a 33-49 record. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves finished with a 45-37 record and secured the seventh seed in the Western Conference play-in tournament. The club would eventually lose during the first round of the playoffs to the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in six hard-fought games.

Beverley was initially drafted by your Los Angeles Lakers with the No. 42 pick in the 2009 draft out of the University of Arkansas. The day after the draft, the Heat sent out a future second-round pick and cash to the Lakers in exchange for Beverley's draft rights. Miami would waive him before the start of the 2009-10 regular season. The point guard would go on to play internationally with clubs in Greece and Russia before finally making his NBA debut for the Houston Rockets midway through the 2012-13 season.

Beverley reflected further on his expectations for the season with a Lakers franchise that, outside of a handful of players, will look markedly different than it did in 2021-22:

"You can't control health... I think the biggest thing is camaraderie, togetherness. I feel like it's like any relationship... You have a great relationship, things usually go good... Just having that relationship, bonding with each other."

When asked about new head coach Darvin Ham, who has long had a reputation around the league as one of the NBA's top assistants, Beverley offered up an intriguing response:

"Obviously my coach last year [Chris Finch] was a first-year coach. First-year coaches, they want to win... When it's your first year, you feel like you want to win everything, like a rookie."

Finch had been brought into the fold from the Houston Rockets midway through the 2020-21 season, going on to lead the Timberwolves to a 16-25 record during the games he coached. But the 2021-22 season was still technically his first full season as a head coach, with the benefit of a full offseason.

The full video of Pat Bev's conversation is below:

"I know what it feels to be a #Laker and a Clipper, I've been on both sides, and I like it over here a little bit better." - @patbev21 talks to @Mike_Bresnahan about joining the #purpleandgold. pic.twitter.com/FNfJpaXFmI

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) September 6, 2022