Patrick Beverley gave Damian Lillard some serious praise during a recent interview.
Beverley was a guest on “The JJ Redick Podcast” for an episode that was published on Thursday. In the interview, Redick, who plays for the New Orleans Pelicans, asked Beverley to name his toughest defensive assignment. After thinking for a bit, the LA Clippers defender gave his answer.
“I say Dame,” Beverley said, naming Lillard. “Dame is one of the reasons why I went into the weight room. I told my guys, ‘hey, I gotta get faster laterally. I don’t feel like I’m fast — I can’t keep up with the speed right now. I don’t know if I need to lose weight. I don’t know if I need to get stronger. I don’t know if I need to hire a new f—ing team. But I need to get f—ing faster. So I have you guys break that down.”
Beverley also said that all his hard work paid off in the form of one big stop last year.
“And so we worked a whole bunch and, you know, prime example, last year, iso play, game winner, and I get a stop on him. All that hard work for one play. One play!” said Beverley.
Beverley doesn’t often give praise to others, so you know the Portland Trail Blazers star really has to have impressed him for him to say that. Part of his mentality is never giving an inch. Dame should take it as a big compliment.
