Bryce Harper appears to be sending a message to the Arizona Diamondbacks ahead of Game 7 — “The next five hours are mine.”
The Philadelphia Phillies star slugger Harper arrived for Tuesday’s decisive NLCS game wearing the jersey of a rather interesting player. Harper came through sporting a Patrick Beverley-Philadelphia 76ers jersey. Take a look.
https://twitter.com/MLBLife/status/1716908072273371248
That is a very unique choice by Harper, especially considering that Beverley just signed with Philadelphia this offseason and has yet to even play in an official game for the 76ers. But Beverley is known as one of the NBA’s great instigators whose abrasive tactics can border on bullying, so perhaps Harper is sending the message that he plans to do some bullying in Game 7.
Still, that is some risky energy for Harper to be putting out there since the 76ers are notorious for their playoff shortcomings (having failed to make it out of the second round in over two decades). Beverley himself doesn’t have the strongest track record either — he lost the only Game 7 of his career (in 2020 to the Denver Nuggets as a member of the LA Clippers) and dropped a winner-take-all game in the play-in round last season on the Chicago Bulls.
But something about Beverley clearly speaks to Harper. The former NL MVP has pulled some Beverley-esque moves this postseason and will try to do so again on Tuesday.
