The beef between Damian Lillard, Paul George, and Patrick Beverley is fun for all.
The budding beef between Damian Lillard, Paul George, and Patrick Beverley has dominated sports talk for the last 24 hours. The Portland Trail Blazers and LA Clippers went back and forth on Saturday before the Clippers’ third-string unit ultimately pulled off the victory.
During the waning moments of the game with a chance to put his team up by one, Lillard (an 89.7% career shooter from the line) missed both. Beverley (with the help of Marcus Morris), proceeded to yell at Lillard as he went to the other end of the court.
At the end of the game, George, with Beverley, waved goodbye and then told ESPN reporters that it’s a make or miss league. Lillard was asked about their waving postgame to which he responded:
"“PG did the wave because he also was surprised ] because he experienced being waved at last year… Asking me about Patrick Beverley, who I sent him home before at the end of a game. Paul George is a guy sent home by me last year in the playoffs, so they know. The reason they reacting like that is because of what they expecting from me, which is a sign of respect, and it just shows what I have done at a high clip more times than not. I am not offended by it. If anything, it should just tell you how much it hurt them to go through what I put them through in those situations previously.”"
The back-and-forth trash talking didn’t stop there but leaked onto Instagram. Beverley commented on a post about the game saying, “Cancun on 3.” George followed his comments with “And you getting sent home this year”. Lillard hit George with a solid comeback, stating “keep switching teams … running from the grind. You boys is chumps.”
The drama continued with Lillard’s sister and George’s girlfriend going at it again on Instagram.
All in all, the drama made for one entertaining 24 hours. The two teams probably won’t see each other again this season with only a matchup in the Western Conference Finals as the only option. Portland is still struggling to get the eighth seed in the West and would still have to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round before facing off against either the Houston Rockets or Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round.
While they won’t face each other this season and get to take their frustrations out on the court, it’s nice to have some drama in the bubble. Sure, the games have been great but it’s not the NBA without a little bit of off-court drama. It gives fans something to talk about when the game isn’t going on and keeps everyone interested.
Whenever the Clippers and Blazers do face off again, we can expect fireworks. Until then, make sure to keep checking here for all your LA Clippers news, rumors, and more!