He is not there yet, but Houston point guard Patrick Beverley is pushing hard for a spot on the Heat’s all-villain team.
In his two games against Miami this year, both in the past two weeks, he has a total of 34 points, seven assists and seven steals. He also has attempted to provoke basically every player on the roster.
In the Heat’s 113-104 victory over the Rockets today, Beverley committed a technical foul and got into it with LeBron James. He had an exchange with Udonis Haslem during a timeout despite Haslem never appearing in the game. Most of the time he was on the court, his mouth was moving.
In the Heat-Rockets game on March 4, he took a particular interest in jawing at Mario Chalmers.
Beverley has a reputation for being combative, but has a special spot in his heart for the Heat. He was in training camp with Miami in 2010-11, the first year of the Big Three, but was cut shortly before the season began.
That disappointment occurred after stints in the Ukraine and Greece, and he spent two more years playing in Russia before earning a spot with Houston prior to last season.
“He’s a guy who we cut and he felt he should’ve made the team here, so he has a little something for us — but he has a little something for everybody,” Dwyane Wade said. “He’s a Chicago guy. He’s tough. He’s a fighter. He’s a competitor.”
James, Wade and coach Erik Spoelstra spoke highly of Beverley and felt he would have been a good fit on the roster, though obviously the team saw others as better options.
Beverley, 25, spent last season as a back-up in Houston before taking the starting job from Jeremy Lin this year. He is averaging 9.6 points and 2.7 assists per game.
“I know he’s intense and he talks a lot, but I don’t care,” Chris Bosh said. “I’m too focused on what I’m doing. I know he probably has a chip on his shoulder because it didn’t work out here and he had to have a long journey to get to Houston, but probably without this experience he wouldn’t have improved the way he has to become a starting point guard in the NBA. It’s quite an accomplishment.”
