Just minutes after his unexpected trade to the Milwaukee Bucks, veteran guard Patrick Beverley hopped on his podcast to discuss his next basketball venture. After expressing excitement about the prospect of joining forces with Giannis, Bev admitted that he needs to fix his relationship with Lillard and let their rivalry stay in the past.
“Who else on the team,” asked Beverley in a call. “It’s Dame, Giannis — nah, I gotta get my relationship right with Dame. I gotta get my relationship right with Dame, it’s time to win a championship…”
Beverley seems willing to start fresh with Lillard, and the feeling is mutual for the former Blazers star. It didn’t take long for Damian to respond to the trade, and he published his own statement not long after Beverley’s video.
“He brings an edge and a defensive tenacity on the perimeter that we need,” said Dame, via Chris Haynes. “There are not many players who bring it on a nightly like him. I look forward to working together. Our past personal issues don’t trump an opportunity to win a championship.”
It’s no secret that Damian Lillard and Patrick Beverley were once fierce rivals on the court. Their issues date back to the 2020 playoffs, when Beverley and his teammate at the time, Paul George, ruthlessly mocked Lillard for missing a pair of clutch free throws. In the years since Lillard has taken repeated shots against Beverley. Arguably the worst of their encounters came in January of last year, when Lillard threatened physical violence against Beverley during an in-game encounter. Clearly, the two didn’t like playing each other and they had plenty of problems when they were opponents on the court. But with Beverley on the Bucks now, and arguably their best perimeter defender, the former rivals will have to get used to playing with each other if they want to win a title this season.
Milwaukee Bucks Are All-In On The NBA Championship
When the Bucks traded for Damian Lillard this summer, they made it clear to everyone that they are not in the business of waiting to win, and anything short of a Finals appearance this season will be a massive disappointment. Unfortunately, it’s been a rough start to the Lillard era and the Bucks are still scrambling to find answers before it’s too late. Before the season even started, there were questions about head coach Adrian Griffin, and those questions turned into serious concerns when the players began to display signs of frustration with their coach. Concluding that Adrian just wasn’t up to the task, Bucks GM Jon Horst wasted no time in letting him go bringing in his replacement, Doc Rivers.
The Bucks are 1-4 under Rivers so far and they look even worse than when Griffin was leading the show. The hope for this season is that Beverley’s arrival will help bolster their perimeter defense and provide the Bucks with some flexibility in the backcourt. Ranked 19th defensively, defense remains the biggest flaw in this Bucks team and if they can just get better on that end of the floor, it will make them immensely more difficult to beat in the postseason. Only time will tell how they are able to finish this year but there is no question that the Bucks are all-in on winning another championship in the Giannis Antetokounmpo era.
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