Patrick Beverley opens up on new-found friendship with Russell Westbrook in LA after YEARS of beef

Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook appear to have turned their past issues into a unique understanding, according to a new interview between Beverley and comedian Kevin Hart.

Now teammates on the Lakers, Beverley and Westbrook butted heads when they were on the Rockets and Thunder respectively, as the latter tore his meniscus in 2013 when Beverley went for a steal as Westbrook dribbled towards the bench before a timeout.

The then-Houston guard tried the same tactic a year later, and though Westbrook was not hurt, he was completely irate and the pair had to be separated.

Beverley and Kevin Hart touched on a variety of topics in the amusing interview

Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley have formed an unlikely friendship on the Lakers

Improbably, the two are now friends in the latter stages of their careers and they even ate dinner together on Christmas Eve.

‘I can tell him things other people can’t,’ Beverley told Hart on ‘Cold as Balls‘.

‘And that’s the beauty of, when you got two guys that… if you only got two rams, you can only understand things from the other ram,’ he said, describing the pair’s shared tenacity.

Beverley, a three-time All-Defense nod, also touched on other topics in the interview, calling himself, Marcus Smart and Jrue Holiday the only good defensive point guards in the league.

Beverley named himself as one of the league’s few good defensive point guards

Hart also brought up the Heat’s Kyle Lowry in that discussion, which Beverley disagreed with.

‘He defends OK,’ he said. ‘You’re just saying that because he’s from Philly [like Hart],’ Beverley claimed while also disagreeing with the notion that Lowry was a ‘strong guard.’

Beverley was also hesitant to give credit to the Nets’ Ben Simmons, who plays in the backcourt at a much taller height than most of his counterparts. 

‘He’s 6ft 9, he better be [a good defender]! He can’t shoot, he better be!’

Beverley also referenced his relationship – or lack thereof – with Chris Paul.

The pair were on opposite sides of the trade package that sent Paul to Houston (and Beverley to the Clippers), and Beverley said Paul ‘can’t guard nobody’ after the Suns were eliminated from the postseason last year.

While the Lakers guard acknowledged there was a mutual respect between the pair, who have had some feisty battles over the years, he had some fighting words for him when speaking with Hart.

 ‘Any time I see Chris Paul it’s smoke. But that comes from all the things and all the success he’s had in his basketball career,’ he said.

Chris Paul and Beverley have had some testy battles in 21 games played against each other

‘From now on until you retire, or until I retire, or until my bones pop out of my f*** knees, I’m going to hound you every single time until we’re done.’

Finally, Beverley touched on the emotions around his exit from the Clippers last year.

While he was a part of the team who made the Western Conference Finals in the 2020-21 season, Beverley said he was offered around ‘five or six million dollars’ by the organization – which he felt was below his market value.

‘I felt like it was the ultimate spit in my face when I literally just changed this whole organization around and went to the western Conference Finals. I didn’t think I got the fair end of the stick,’ he said.

Beverley helped the Timberwolves make the playoffs vs. the Clippers last year

Less than a year later, Beverley got a chance for revenge as his Timberwolves played – and beat – the Clippers in the postseason play-in.

After losing 109-104 to the Wolves, the Clippers fell 105-101 to the Pelicans and missed out on the playoffs.

‘For us to even play the Clippers in the play-in, it’s like a championship game for me.’

Beverley is averaging 5.7 points in 26.9 minutes per game this season for the Lakers.

You can now watch all episodes of Cold As Balls season 7 on the LOL Network YouTube channel. Past guests this season include Allen Iverson, Dwight Howard, Austin Ekeler, John Wall, and Kelsey Plum.