Patrick Beverley has always been a gritty, hard-nosed competitor. Odds are, if you are a fan of any NBA team, you probably have your own opinion of him, positive or negative. And if you are a fan of the LA Clippers, that opinion is more than likely going to be positive.
Playing in Los Angeles from 2017 until 2021, Pat Bev brought his reputation as an extremely tough one-on-one defender to the Clippers and was part of some of the best teams in franchise history. Beverley has always been in the category of "hate him when you're playing against him, love him when he's on your team."
With the former Clippers guard now heading to Israel to play out the next stage of his professional career, he has stopped to acknowledge many of the good memories he has had in the NBA over the years. One of the most recent instances of him doing that came this week when he hopped on The OGs Podcast with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller.
As one of the main hosts, Udonis Haslem had many questions to ask Pat Bev about his career. One such question was concerning who the hardest worker Beverley was around in his career was. The answer was very clear. "Kawhi," said Pat. "Hardest working m-----f----- I ever seen in my life."
Pat Bev said Kawhi is the hardest worker he's been around
Now, we have to remember that Pat Bev has played with some extremely talented players over the years. His list of career teammates include guys like LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, James Harden, Anthony Edwards and others. So this is far from a small statement from the former Clipper.
Beverley chose to clarify what exactly he meant by hard-working. "So when I say hard working, I mean in the weight room, it's LeBron. On the court, it's Kawhi. Together, weight room and court, Kawhi. I ain't seen nobody like him."
Udonis Haslem used Beverley's statement as an opportunity to push back on those who claim Kawhi is always hurt because he is not hard-working, and Pat agreed. "That's why he hurt," said Beverley. "That's what people don't understand." Pat even recalled a time where he told Kawhi to relax with his training, with Leonard sternly telling him he would not.
This is a nice reminder for Clippers fans to remember who exactly their franchise player is. He may catch a lot of unjust criticism, but behind the scenes he works harder than maybe anyone. Kawhi has never cheated the process, and we have to feel he will be rewarded for that sooner or later.