It’s the photo that shocked the NBA — or at least plenty of its most rabid fans, who eat conflict and animosity with joy for breakfast. At the same time, it gives optimistic Lakers fans reason to hope.
Pat Beverley, the new LA Lakers guard and self-proclaimed best defensive player in the NBA, is shown making his erstwhile enemy Russell Westbrook laugh.
The two new teammates, in Lakers gear and in the gym, are walking together as Pat Bev — as he’s known — shows Russ his fist. Is Beverley telling Westbrook he’s going to shut him down like a fist during practice, making Westbrook guffaw at the threat? That’s one reason Westbrook might be laughing so hard.
Or else have the two agreed to let bygones be bygones? Westbrook once memorably told journalists that “Pat Bev got you all fooled,” questioning Beverley’s alleged defensive prowess, a comment that Beverley said devalued him by implication and cost him real money in the talent marketplace.
One commenter writes of the pairing: “it could work it just has to be done correctly” while another writes “they homies now.”
The more pessimistic peeps offer this more jaded assessment: “Ayy let’s laugh n smile today so I can look like I’m a team player so my trade value…”
The truth is probably what Westbrook says below, that he’s “too blessed to be stressed.”
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