Last season, Marcus Smart became the first guard since Gary Payton in 1996 to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Some saw it as a breakthrough for a guard to be recognized.
Patrick Beverley was more than a little ticked off, he told Draymond Green on “The Draymond Green Show.” (Warning: NSFW language in the video below.)
"Part of me was pissed the f*ck off Dray!"
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) October 7, 2022
—@patbev21 and @Money23Green discuss @smart_MS3 winning DPOY pic.twitter.com/n15LCig0zw
“Part of me was pissed the f*** off, Dray. I ain’t gonna lie, bro. I’d be a fool not to sit—from a competitor’s standpoint, I’d be a cap sitting on here telling you I wasn’t pissed off when that happened. Not from like, I don’t want him to get it, from like, ‘Damn, I’m happy a guard got it, but damn, I’ve been sitting right here. I’ve been sitting right here for years.’ But I respect it. A guard got it.”
Smart was a controversial choice in basketball circles — but not because of Beverley. Smart was the best defender on the best defense in the NBA, a historic defense in the second half of the season. The argument against Smart was more that Robert Williams III was more important to the Boston defense, that Mikal Bridges was more critical in Phoenix, or that Rudy Gobert still had a bigger influence on the defense in Utah (same with Bam Adebayo in Miami).
Beverley is an unquestionably good defender but his argument was more about changing the culture and lifting up the Timberwolves to a respectable defense last season. Beverley undoubtedly played a big role, but to win the award a player usually has to come from a top-five defense.
Beverley is with the Lakers this season and is a perfect fit for what Darvin Ham wants out of the Lakers — relentlessness on defense. Beverley is the guy who can be in the film room and call out LeBron James, Anthony Davis or Russell Westbrook about defensive lapses. If the Lakers’ defense improves this season, Beverley will be a key reason why.
Whether that would be enough to get him in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation remains to be seen.
