NBA Watch League Pass

Patrick Beverley's developing rivalry with Grizzlies: Timberwolves guard brings plenty of 'smoke' to NBA Playoff series

Jordan Greer

•
Patrick Beverley's developing rivalry with Grizzlies: Timberwolves guard brings plenty of 'smoke' to NBA Playoff series image

Patrick Beverley is one of the biggest irritants in NBA history. Just ask... well, pretty much anyone who has stood across from him on a basketball court.

The Timberwolves guard is a three-time All-Defensive Team selection who greatly enjoys getting under the skin of his opponents. As he said before the start of the 2021-22 regular season, "People don't like to be touched, and I like touching a lot of people."

His latest challenge? Pestering Ja Morant and the Grizzlies in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

Beverley's history with Memphis has added an extra bit of intrigue to the Western Conference series, and the intensity should only increase as the two sides become more familiar with each other.

MORE: Why Marcus Smart is SN's Defensive Player of the Year

Grizzlies trade Patrick Beverley to Timberwolves

The Beverley-Grizzlies connection started in August when Memphis added the 33-year-old guard to the roster as part of a deal with the Clippers. On an episode of "The Old Man and the Three" podcast, Beverley explained why he requested a trade from Los Angeles.

"When me, Lou [Williams], and [Montrezl Harrell] got to the Clippers, I felt like we weren't Blake Griffin. We weren't DeAndre Jordan. We weren't Chris Paul. We weren't JJ Redick. That wasn't our era. We wanted to kind of have our own identity," Beverley said. "When we got there, we changed it all up. ... We're in the Western Conference Finals, something the team has never done.

"So me, being there from the beginning, I'm thinking contract extension. I'm thinking it's gonna be easy. I walk in, and they throw me a number that I felt like was borderline disrespectful."

The honeymoon period didn't last long, though, as the Grizzlies quickly traded Beverley to the Timberwolves. Memphis acquired Beverley in exchange for Jarrett Culver and Juancho Hernangomez.

"Minnesota was in my top three [trade destinations]," Beverley said. "I was able to go through Memphis, didn't know how I felt about Memphis, didn't know what really was going on. I talked to the GM. The GM goes, 'We'll see how summer camp goes.'

"In my mind, I'm [thinking], 'Summer camp? Motherf—er, I'm the starting guard there next to Ja Morant.'"

Beverley hasn't posted eye-popping numbers for the Timberwolves (9.2 points, 4.6 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 1.3 steals per game), but he has undoubtedly been a huge part of the culture change in Minnesota.

Patrick Beverley takes shots at Grizzlies after Timberwolves' win

After the Timberwolves captured a 119-114 victory over the Grizzlies on Feb. 24, Beverley didn't waste any time putting his Twitter fingers to work.

Beverley was likely motivated by the result of the previous meeting between Minnesota and Memphis. The Grizzlies handed the Timberwolves an eight-point loss on Jan. 13, and Beverley could be seen exchanging a few words with Morant late in the fourth quarter.

Ja Morant says Grizzlies 'ain't ducking no smoke'

Before the start of the series, Morant made it clear that the Grizzlies won't be backing down from any challengers, including Beverley.

"I ain't ducking no smoke," Morant said. "We run up the chimney. Simple as that. Ain't no conversations about not letting nobody get under your skin. If somebody comes towards you, you can't back down. That's a soft person tendency. We don't got no soft guys over here."

With all of that smoke, there's bound to be a fire at some point. What will happen next in this developing rivalry?

Jordan Greer

Jordan Greer Photo

Jordan Greer has been with The Sporting News since 2015. He previously worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He is a graduate of Westminster College and Syracuse University.