If Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley needed some extra motivation heading into the 2016-17 season, here it is.
NBA.com released their annual GM survey on Tuesday, and “Who is the toughest player in the NBA?” was one of the poll questions. Beverley caught wind of the results and seemed to be quite irked that he didn’t crack the top-six, but Milwaukee Bucks guard Matthew Dellavedova did.
Who's the NBA's toughest player? GMs: Tony Allen (23.3%), Kawhi (16.7%), Westbrook (13.3%), Steven Adams (10%), Draymond (10%), Delly (6.7%)
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) October 18, 2016
Wow I didn't make that list wow!!! But delly are u kidding??? https://t.co/DN4732XnEk
— Patrick Beverley (@patbev21) October 19, 2016
In fairness, “toughness” is a rather subjective term, and Beverley did make it to the “Also receiving votes” section of the rankings. But Dellavedova’s player archetype, the tenacious defensive hound who sacrifices his body for loose balls and pressures opposing guards the entire length of the floor, is very similar to that of Beverley’s and arguably a less consistent one at that. For Beverley, who is no stranger to feeling slighted, expect his air-tight D to get even more suffocating now that he feels like he has something more to prove.
