Lonzo, LaVar hear it from Patrick Beverley in Lakers' opener: Welcome to the NBA, Ballers

Tom Gatto

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Lonzo, LaVar hear it from Patrick Beverley in Lakers' opener: Welcome to the NBA, Ballers image

Patrick Beverley took his responsibility to welcome Lonzo Ball to the NBA seriously — perhaps too seriously.

The Clippers veteran hounded the Lakers rookie before, during and after their matchup Thursday at Staples Center. A sample:

As Beverley left the court following a 108-92 Clippers win, he yelled to no one in particular, and about no one in particular: "Weak ass m—f—er. Bring him out on the court with me and I will tear his ass up."

MORE: What we saw in Lonzo Ball's debut

In a quieter moment, Beverley said this was all a necessary part of the kid's NBA schooling.

Ah, yes, the dad.

Lonzo isn't the reason he's a marked man; the teen has been mostly chill since being drafted second overall by the Lakers. It's pops, LaVar Ball, with the hype, the marketing, the shoes, the crazy talk.

LaVar Ball, in fact, showed a lot more fight than his son Thursday; he called Beverley a "nobody" who's getting noticed only because Lonzo was involved. LaVar ball said Beverley tried to stare him down, too.

"Let's see what you do the next five games, if you are going to be pumped up towards everybody like that and go back to your 0-for-5 shooting and your two or three rebounds," LaVar told ESPN. "Nobody is going to care about you. But you put my son's name in it and you put my name in it, now you got some action and you got some people talking."

Beverley finished with 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting, three rebounds and two steals in 24 minutes Thursday. Ball was . . . worse: three points on 1-of-6 shooting, four assists and nine rebounds in 29 minutes.

MORE: Lakers coach knows players will "come after" Lonzo

No less an authority than Snoop Dogg put Lonzo Ball's plight in some of the best terms.

Beverley was gnawing on the bottom of those drawers and eating up young Mr. Ball, while also trying to sink his teeth into "the dad."

LaVar wasted no time biting back, and in typical fashion. Now, Lonzo needs to do something similar on the court.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.