With 2:32 remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 6 and the Bucks trailing Indiana by 20 points, guard Patrick Beverley threw a basketball at Pacers fans near Milwaukee’s bench two separate times (Twitter video link).
Beverley’s first toss appeared to miss its target, a male fan, instead hitting an unsuspecting female in the side of the head. He asked for the ball back and the male fan lightly tossed it back to him, only for Beverley to throw it back immediately at the male fan with considerable force (and nearly hitting a Bucks assistant in the process). The male fan deflected the ball.
Bucks forward Jae Crowder tried to calm Beverley down at that point, but he pushed Crowder’s arms aside before sitting on the bench. Security then intervened and appeared to remove some of the fans.
As Jim Owczarski and Emmett Prosser of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel write, Beverley refused to address the incident after the loss, which eliminated the Bucks from the playoffs.
“No, don’t worry about that,” Beverley said. “Nothing.”
However, late in the night, Beverley responded to the incident on social media (Twitter link).
“Not Fair at all,” he wrote. “Exchanged between a fan and our ball club all night. We warned and asked for help all night. Not fair.”
About six hours later, Beverley followed up (via Twitter) with, “But I have to be better. And I will.”
TNT analyst and former NBA star Charles Barkley expects Beverley to receive a harsh punishment for the incident. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated concurs (Twitter link).
“Listen, I’ve done stupid stuff and I got criticized,” Barkley said. “That’s just wrong. He’s gonna get suspended for that. And that’s gonna be a good one, too. ‘Cause he didn’t do it once. He did it twice.”
Beverley, 35, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, and Milwaukee’s season just ended. A potential suspension wouldn’t be served until next season begins, assuming he’s able to land another contract.
Beverley also refused to speak to an ESPN producer after the game because she wasn’t subscribed to his podcast, tweets Pacers reporter Alex Golden. Evidently that isn’t new behavior though, per Jack Maloney of CBS Sports (Twitter link).
If people want to see what *actual* primadonna behavior looks like, look no further. Giant baby. Softest “tough guy” in NBA history, moreso than Bill MF Laimbeer.
Bill wasn’t soft, he would straight up stomp you. No social media back then, no camera phones.
One of “Doc’s guys”. This is what you get when you turn to losers to be part of your organization. Teams will never learn.
His actions were inexcusable. However, I have to wonder what the fan was saying all game to get him so wound up. Just because you buy a ticket doesn’t mean you get to be an ahole. This is becoming more of a problem in recent years, and rather than just suspending players, fans should be subject to penalties. Every ticket sold has a behavior clause, and it usually includes not saying things like cursing, etc.
dumbest comment ever.
100% agreed, what a dumb post.
Who cares what the fan said, grow up Pat Bev. I’m Italian, call me Without Papers, a Dago, tell me what you did to my mom amorously last night, who cares. It’s words, likely spouted by a drunken tool.
I used to like Bev, but I’m done with him.
More than occasionally folks who holler at opposing players or coaches are dull in content. In the days before constant in-game electronic noise it was much, much easier to do the aforementioned hollering: “I’m gonna beat you up after school tomorrow ______” <— fill in player's name. Or, the infamous taunt, "hey ______ YUK!!", repeated regularly and as loudly as possible. However you approach hollering you've got to skate the edges: "Hey _____, how come you small like cheese??" If you prefer old school epithets, "Whaddya do in the summertime, burn down hospitals?" would work. It's an just a matter of how many arrows you have in your quiver; the more the better.
What the heck are you talking about?
I’m only saying that a well rendered ragging of an opponents player is an artform. If all a fan can produce is, “you suck” it’s probably best to keep one’s mouth shut.
It doesn’t really matter what the fan said, tbh. What PatBev did, legally speaking, qualifies as assault. Even though the male fan deflected it. An attack doesn’t have to actually land or cause harm for it to qualify. Unless the fan was making personal threats to PatBev or his family, there’s not even the slightest shred of justification there, and it could easily be turned into a lawsuit that he’d have to settle.
Well the fan deflected it the second time, the first time it hit a woman in the head. Those fans just got richer as well. I see a nice 6 figure settlement in their future.
Ahhhh, the five time Allstar who needed no nickname rings in from “the beyond.”
Oh yeah Pat Bev is gonna be opening the bank account to settle this. NBA and Pacers too, it happened in their Gym, so they will be sued too.
Beverley crossed the physical boundary here, twice, not the fan. This situation isn’t even his first sore loser outburst. How you can blame anyone other than Beverley for his own behavior and actions is absolutely ridiculous. He’s a grown man… and you want to blame the short unathletic observer? Pat Bev got in his feelings over a guy from accounting.
Bev obviously shouldnt have thrown a ball at a fan and will get a good suspension but I’d have to believe that fan was being an absolute dbag and probably does believe he bought a ticket so can say what he wants. I can’t stand humans that believe its fun to heckle people as all it does usually is annoy every other fan near them and ruin the experience of all the other people who also paid for a ticket. Nothing worse at a game than a drunken dbag sitting next to you yelling at players.
Only one person involved in this incident was on the clock. A video exists, the fan behaves reasonable and Beverley does not. What is the need to create a conversation between them that doesn’t exist?
I’m not saying Beverley tried to injure someone because I don’t know. Looked bad but impossible to confirm. Just like you don’t know the conversation between him and the fan.
Pat Beverley’s track record shows he is prone to physical outbursts when he is losing. This seems to be another example of that.
“nothing worse”. Ah, but there are such great ways to yell at players. Adapt the grand insults of the past (be sure to maintain PCness) and yell as loud as you can. Other fans disturbed by your yelling? This ain’t the Royal Shakespeare Company playing Macbeth where you take your life in your own hands by unwrapping candy during the performance and making a racket. Hush at the RSC, raucous at a ball game. If the resulting noise level bothers someone, they ought to stay home.
Heckling is an art form. It can be blunt and dull. It can be deep and profound. Sometimes it’s personal. Sometimes it’s goes over their head. It’s part of the game. Drunk or not, people need to be reminded that some things should not be said. Things that would get your teeth knocked out if said outside of a game. Fans should not be tolerated simply because of the price of their admission. When I heckle, I also chant. Cant be all negative, and it should be playful. Some people are happy to just see a live game, regardless of the scoreboard. If you don’t like loud noises or heckling go stand elsewhere. Don’t ask for me to be moved or silenced. Fans enhance the game, just like crowds with movies. You know what you’re getting into when you see a movie on opening night. Bigotry, malice and hatred have no place (game or not), but heckling always will. I believe you have an issue with the lack of sobriety and intellect with some fans. Cheers
Absolutely spot on!!! Heckling is an art form, and not to put too fine a point on it, it’s a tradition. “(not) all negative …” “should be playful” … We go to movies at the end of their runs because it’s quieter. We prefer a packed house at a ballgame because it’s noisier. “… I also chant”. I had a buddy when I was a late teen who more or less chanted a single phrase at Tommy Lasorda the then manager of the Spokane Indians, the AAA farm team of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lasorda eventually reacted by climbing over the tarpaulin and chasing my friend up an aisle at the ballpark. Chant, but wear your sneakers! Oh, and stay in shape.
somehow I doubt it was anywhere close to what Jackie Robinson heard and he never chucked bats into the stands
No one has ever accused Pat Bev of being smart or level-headed.
LOL I love that he thinks telling the ESPN producer to pound sand bc she doesnt subscribe to his pod cast was a solid approach to questions. That is 100% DumbBlank Pat Bev. Stupid enough to think that comment wont haunt him for the rest of his career.
Nobody should sign this loser. He is a bad player and a fool.
Those passes had more arc than his normal shot release
Extremely unprofessional behavior.
I would be surprised if it were anyone other than Pat Bev. But I mean the Pacers have a history with fans so…
Seems like the last game he’ll be on any NBA bench.
“Pat Bev’s passed ball misses mark again and hits the wrong person” is a fair epitaph for his career.
The NBA will be better off without him. Talks big but can’t handle anything directed his way. Selfish player.
Props to Crowder’s level-headed response.
You know you’ve done really bad, when even Jae Crowder tries to calm you up.
The MLB has a pitch clock and extra innings runners, the NFL stopped helmet to helmet hits and changed the structure of kickoffs, and yet, Pat Bev and Draymond Green are still roaming NBA floors. Grow up, and change the product for the better.
NHL ain’t much better. Tom Wilson is a tool rivaling the NBA’s worst.
Amen, DarkSide
This is just who Beverley is. Remember him messing up Westbrooks knee a few years ago? He’s a wannabe tough guy knowing the fan would never actually be able to put his hands on him. What a punk
Bye bye Beverley.
But the Bucks will insist on running it back with this roster, minus 1 or 2 promising young guys. Claiming injuries and the mid-season coaching change disrupted what was surely a championship contender.
“But I have to be better – and I will.”
He has that quote on re-dial.
How many times do we have to hear this from this guy?
Bro he threw a ball at a guy. Can we stop acting like this was the malice at the palace?
Wait, you obviously are not a lawyer. He did not just “throw a ball at a guy.”
Beverly took a ball and hit a fan in the head, then did it again ALL ON NATIONAL TV.
He physically assaulted two fans who paid the NBA for tickets and the NBA took on the responsibility for their safety. Trust me Bev is GONE from the NBA for at least a year and probably looking at a 6-figure settlement, NBA and the Pacers too (their gym).
You simply do not understand the implications of a player attacking, and that is what he did, fans with a basketball, NOT ONCE, but twice.
Woman who was hit has an incredible law suit against Beverly, the Bucks, the Pacers and the NBA.
Assault lol, snowflakes
He hit a fan that was not intended to be hit and then hit the actual fan he intended to hit out of anger.
It was deliberate and should be suspended for it.
What if he did this to your family members?
Patrick went too far!
How do we know the fan didn’t say, “throw me the ball as a souvenir?” Maybe Pat was just trying to be nice but you race to crucify him.
Because we, unlike you, watched the video.
What a classless loser, so many players have thin skin these days. Like Westbrick and Lebron crying about fans heckling them and Booker saying a mascot hurt his feelings. Soft ahh league.
Hope that’s the last time we see Pat Bev in an NBA uniform.
Absolutely no class.
While the act of throwing the ball at someone could technically be called assault, balls/pucks going into the observation area at any sports event is considered an accepted risk. Patrick would have had to specifically target that fan, and no-where does he expressly acknowledge he did so.
There is also no reaction from the fans surrounding the victim which would imply that the fan didn’t say anything that crossed any lines. If a racial insult or violent threat had been levied, those around the fan would have reacted by turning to look for the person spewing such vile comments.
Looks to me like Patrick had an emotional breakdown/loss of control during what was surely an emotionally overwhelming event, a blowout playoff loss on national TV. He threw the ball at fans in a fit of rage, and when the ball was given back to him he tried to hit another fan.
All this to say is that there really is no legal argument on behalf of the victims. It happened, that sucks. Patrick will be suspended and likely won’t play in the NBA again, at least not on a team capable of making the playoffs. He is like Draymond Green without the talent, no reason to tolerate.