The Phoenix Suns imploded unbelievably against the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Semifinals, with Chris Paul having some really bad games during the series. CP3 earned a lot of criticism for his poor performances from fans as well as the media, and perhaps no one went in on him as hard as Patrick Beverley, who was analyzing Game 7 on ESPN.
Beverley called CP3 a cone on defense, laying into him and going on to claim that no one in the NBA was afraid of Phoenix as well. A lot of players spoke out against Beverley’s commentary, with Damian Lillard describing it as weird behavior, and Kevin Durant also speaking out on Twitter.
CJ McCollum has become the latest to give his two cents on the situation, going into detail about his thoughts on Beverley’s comments on ‘Pull Up with CJ McCollum’ (via Sportskeeda):
“One thing I will say about Patrick Beverley is that he’s consistent. He’s consistently himself in terms of his expression, in terms of his opinion, in terms of his beliefs. Not only in the things that he says but his belief in himself.”
“Even with all that being said, him not being his normal self, not playing his best basketball, his stats were still better than Pet Bev’s stats, career and otherwise. So, I think that kind of painted the picture as to why is he going at him like that. It felt personal. It felt personal to me. As I watched, I was like you know this looks personal.”
“I don’t necessarily think I agree with it but I think everybody has a right to their own opinions. I would say a lot of stuff that he said about CP in terms of his performance in the playoffs was true. I think it was more so the way he said it.”
Beverley’s takes were an excellent example of how analysis can be devalued if a personal bias is apparent in the commentary. When the Timberwolves play the Suns next season, it promises to be a tense game between the two guards, as even though he hasn’t responded, Paul will surely have taken note of Beverley’s comments.
