Patrick Beverley, who hasn`t played in an NBA game since May 2024, continues to actively draw attention with his remarks.
The seasoned 12-year NBA guard engaged in a verbal exchange with Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young on Wednesday. This followed Young`s reaction to Beverley`s earlier post on X, where Beverley questioned why players exert maximum effort in summer open runs but show less intensity during the All-Star Game.
Beverley posted: “Because All-Stars take the game for granted. Not 1 All-Star on the court. good bump,” which provoked a response from Young – a four-time All-Star – who advised Beverley to “relax” and let players speak for themselves.
Four days later, Beverley addressed Young`s response on his podcast, stating: “I don`t think he`s won enough to speak to me like that or tweet me like that.”
“He`s only been to the playoffs three times, while I`ve been nine,” Beverley stated. “He`s been in the NBA for seven years. In my first seven years, I never missed the playoffs in the Western Conference. His rebuttal will probably be, `Yeah, but you weren`t the main player on the team.` And that`s absolutely right. But that`s why basketball is a team game.”
Beverley also mentioned that he had spoken with players who played with Young in Atlanta, and they told him they wouldn`t want to play there.
“They don`t see him as a good leader. They don`t consider him a good teammate… Trae, you can score all the points you want,” he declared. “You can make all the money you want. You can have all the leading assists you want. You can do all of that. But if you don`t win, that stuff won`t matter. If you don`t win, when you retire, they`ll forget your name. And quickly, too.”
Young, in turn, later on Wednesday released a nearly 12-minute video response on the X platform.
The Hawks guard asserted that Beverley “doesn`t know what it`s like” to be in his position, and he addressed Beverley`s claims that former Hawks teammates referred to the team as “Trae`s Hawks” rather than the “Atlanta Hawks.”
“State your source. Which of my teammates told [you] that it`s `Trae`s Hawks,` not the `Atlanta Hawks`?” Young questioned. “Because I can tell you myself, I have many teammates I stay in touch with. A lot. Many whom I know you also know. So I want you to state your source.”
Young pointed out several All-Star players Beverley had teamed up with during his career, then brought up Beverley`s passionate celebration after defeating his former team, the LA Clippers, in a 2022 play-in game while with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“We`re not even going to talk about how we celebrate play-in wins,” he remarked. “I win play-in games on the road and I`m ready for the playoffs. You win play-in games at home and you`re standing on the scorer`s table acting like it`s a championship. We celebrate victories differently too.”
Young added that facing Beverley never intimidated him — and still doesn`t.
Young concluded by stating he has “nothing but love” for Beverley and that Beverley could contact him through former teammates if he wished to connect.
“Or if you just want to keep talking about it, you can keep talking about it,” he said.
The episode ended with the opening seconds of Drake`s 2013 track “Tuscan Leather.” In the song, Drake raps: “Bench players talkin` like starters, I hate it” – a line Young seemingly alluded to during the podcast.
“I know many people probably wanted me to just listen to that Drake song and post that line. We all know how that goes,” he said.
The Hawks further fueled the controversy on Thursday by posting a compilation video showcasing Young scoring against Beverley in past matchups.
On Thursday night, Beverley uploaded a YouTube video responding to Young, asserting that the guard accumulates “empty stats,” implying his numbers don`t consistently translate into wins, and highlighting his defensive weaknesses.
“Humble yourself. Embrace constructive criticism,” Beverley advised. “Improve upon that and move on. We don`t need to keep going back and forth like it`s some YouTube debate. It`s not that deep.”
Beverley then reiterated his belief that players are reluctant to join Atlanta, emphasizing the high turnover among coaches and front office personnel. Since being drafted in 2018, Young has played under three different general managers and three full-time head coaches.
“Everyone who comes and sees Trae Young gets thrown out of the building by their collar, hear me?” Beverley stated. “Players arrive. They see you, they get traded. Coaches arrive. They coach you, they get traded. GMs arrive. They manage the team, and then they get fired. Everyone who encounters Trae Young gets fired. That`s the truth… People are afraid to play in Atlanta.”
Beverley questioned Young`s leadership and claimed he never observes Young training at a team facility, contrasting this with his other former star teammates, whom he regularly saw working out at their respective team complexes.
“If I`m working out in Houston, James Harden is also working out in Houston,” Beverley stated. “Not James Harden working out somewhere else. Every time we see you, you`re training elsewhere. We never see you working out at the Hawks arena.”
Despite his criticism, Beverley expressed hope that these exchanges would prove productive.
“Regardless of how it unfolds, something positive will come from this,” Beverley remarked. “Regardless. I hope this is motivating. I hope that by the end of the year, you`ll be fighting for a damn playoff spot. I hope, I hope this is so incredibly motivating that it takes you to the Eastern Conference [finals].”
In their seven regular-season encounters, Beverley holds a slight edge with a 4-3 record.
In their head-to-head matchups, Young averaged 25.3 points, 9.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1 steal, while Beverley recorded averages of 8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.
