Playoffs!?
That was the reaction of many on social media following Patrick Beverley's pregame speech to Los Angeles Lakers fans Thursday.
Prior to tipoff of the Lakers' home opener against the Clippers, Beverley took the mic at center court of Crypto.com Arena and proclaimed the Purple and Gold would make the playoffs this season.
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"On behalf of myself, my teammates, coaching staff, the organization, it's gonna be a hell of a year," Beverley said. "We're gonna have a lot of ups, a lot of downs. Stick through it. We're going to the playoffs. We're trying to make some real good s*** happen, so turn up."
The comment raised eyebrows for a couple of reasons.
First, the Lakers are far from a playoff lock. They failed to even crack last season's play-in tournament after finishing with a 33-49 record and their roster wasn't substantially improved over the offseason.
The Western Conference is still loaded, too. The Lakers would have to beat out one of the Warriors, Pelicans, Timberwolves, Suns, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Nuggets, Clippers and Trail Blazers to get back to the postseason.
And even putting all of that aside, it's still not a particularly great look to proudly declare a franchise with LeBron James and Anthony Davis that's a few seasons removed from a title and is tied for the most championships in NBA history is simply going to be in the playoffs.
Here were some of the best reactions on Twitter as fans roasted Pat Bev's comments:
It seems like there's a better chance than not that Beverley's playoff declaration will end up on Freezing Cold Takes at some point.