Patrick Beverley issues strong response to latest Russell Westbrook report

Apr 3, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley (22) warms up before the game against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

It may be time to start checking pigs for wings because we are seeing the day that Patrick Beverley is publicly defending Russell Westbrook.

A report from The Athletic this week indicated that the Los Angeles Lakers are pondering the drastic step of moving Westbrook to the bench next year. With Westbrook aging, his abilities declining, and a new head coach in Darvin Ham taking over, it at least seems like a plausible move.

But Beverley, Westbrook’s new Lakers teammate, fired back at that suggestion in an Instagram comment on Friday.

“Yal [sic] be reaching bro,” said Beverley in response to the report. “S–t is really funny” (profanity edited by LBS).

Westbrook was an unquestioned starter in all 78 games he played in for the Lakers last season. But all of a sudden, there are a lot more mouths to feed at guard with the team trading for Beverley this summer, reuniting with Dennis Schroder just this week, and working towards Kendrick Nunn’s return from injury.

There was even talk that Beverley himself, Westbrook’s longtime enemy-turned-colleague, could be responsible for supplanting Westbrook in the Lakers’ starting five. But Beverley has the shooting ability and defense to play the 2 next to Westbrook. He also seems committed to working with Westbrook instead of competing against, as we have seen with some of Beverley’s other interesting social media posts about Westbrook lately.