In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, host Draymond Green interviews defensive specialist Pat Beverley. The conversation centers on the mindset and tactics required to become a defensive master in the NBA. Beverley describes how he anticipates offensive plays, takes charges, draws technical fouls, and deliberately gets under opponents’ and coaches’ skin to disrupt the flow of the game. He emphasizes the importance of mastering a role—learning new traits such as shot‑blocking and positioning that he previously lacked—through film study, conditioning, and a year‑long focus on understanding opponents’ tendencies. Both speakers praise the value of veteran mentorship (e.g., Rico), the necessity of earning tangible recognition (All‑Defensive teams, DPOY), and the relentless work ethic needed to stay relevant. The dialogue is peppered with energetic, colloquial language, repeated affirmations, and a shared belief that defensive impact is as crucial to winning as scoring.
Chapters
What's up everybody? It's Draymond Green. Make sure you subscribe to the Volumes YouTube channel below so you don't miss any more of this great content going forward. I think when that game start to slow down for you and you can see plays, you two steps ahead of these plays before they happen. It's fun as hell because for me personally, I feel like, like going into game, I'm like, "I'mma fuck their whole offense up. Like, no problem. I'm about to destroy their whole offense. I know what they trying to get to. I know what he trying to do. I'm about to mess their whole offense up." And that's you every night. Like, you gotta do something else.
Got to. You gotta, and my thing is, you know, I promise it, and I tell everybody this, like, it's no one in the game right now that impacts like winning the way you do on your level and the way I do on my level. Obviously I'm not a Draymond Green, I'm a champion, so I can't even speak to that caliber. But you don't have to be a champion to be a winner.
That's a fact.
You understand what I'm saying?
That is a fact.
You understand what I'm saying? Like, so, like, you know, my time maybe hasn't come yet, but like, all those same ingredients involve the same thing, you know? So when it comes to like impacting the game, like, and this shit's fun now. Nah, 'cause he's outta control. I'm gonna just take a charge on him. He's gonna get frustrated. I'm gonna get under his skin. Okay, I'm gonna foul the shit outta him. Okay, tech. He's out the game. All right, cool. That's cool. Next, who I got next? Okay, coach. All right, I'm gonna talk shit to the coach. Get him a little rattled, that bullshit-ass system he's running. Oh, okay, the delay shit don't work. Put pressure on the big right here. Force him to pick. Yeah, yeah, okay. Got the coach arguing with me. I'm cool. I'm cool now. I'm good. I'm good. My job here is done. This, my stars, pressure's off y'all. They all looking at me. Y'all make y'all free throws when you need to. Y'all make y'all 3-pointers when you need to. I got it. Y'all good. You know, and it's, and it's, you know, and it's, that's how it is.
I hope, I hope, I hope, I hope to God that y'all understood what this man just said. I hope y'all understood what this man just did. 'Cause that right there is impressive. That right there is why who you are, who you are. That right there is why you in the playoffs every year. Because all of those things, people don't understand those things. Like, and for those of you that couldn't quite understand, He said, "Okay, I'm gonna take this man outta the game. Okay, I know he's a little outta control. I'm gonna take a charge on him. I'm on his skin. Let me go get this next guy up. Just got him. He got a tech. All right, dang. Oh, I got him another one. He out the game. Let me get to this coach. Hey, your system is awful." Now he rattled. He talking to me. He not thinking no more about the system he actually running. Do y'all understand?
Yeah.
What this man just did, that is absolutely insane, bruh. And I respect it, I get it, I love it, I appreciate it. That right there, like, that is being a master at what you do. You know what I'm saying? I think so many people get caught into like, "Oh man, he don't score, he don't do this, he don't do that." And I saw, shout out to Rico Hans, OG Rico.
Rico.
I saw, I saw, You was speaking, and speaking on Rico, one thing I respect about Rico is when guys come in the gym, Rico don't want to hear himself talk. Rico want to hear the guys talk that he's seen doing it, that he respect. And I love and I respect that. 'Cause you get, number one, he gonna require that you play great basketball. That's number one. But then you get like real game and Rico give good game too. Like great game.
Good, great game.
Like OG. But when you're getting game from guys that's doing it currently, that's doing it right now, that's been doing it for a long time, with some of these younger guys that be in that gym, it rings differently. And I saw your speech and it was very similar to something that I had said there. And you were just talking about like different roles and what guys got to do in the league. And I respect that. And just like talk to me about being a master in your role, 'cause people can't quite understand that. And because of that, they don't understand the value—
Right.
That one is bringing. So just talk to me about being a master as you are in your role.
So I averaged 30 in high school. I go to college, they bring me in, put the ball in the hole. I go overseas to have the same traits that I had in college and high school in the US. You know, the Olympic game team, put the ball in the hole. That's always been my thing is put the ball in a hole, Pat. Get to the paint, get to the free throw line, put the ball in the hole. Do you. We talking about MVPs and Euro Cup. Like put the ball in the hole. I had to come here and learn a whole fucking new skill, Draymond Green. I ain't play no fucking defense. I ain't play no fucking defense. That's like Steph Curry being a shooter and coming to the league and being the best defensive player in the world.
That's a fact.
Absolutely.
I had to learn a whole new trait and had to master that trait.
In order for me to be successful, I had to master a trait that I didn't know zero, like very little about. So, okay, cool. I bet. Okay, cool. No one's picking up 94 feet. Okay, I'm gonna pick up 94 feet. Okay, okay, I'm gonna take that little, I'm gonna take that with me, Mr. 94 Feet. But now if I do pick up, I have to, whatever I want that my title to be, I have to back that up. But in order to back that up, I need something solid. What's solid? Awards. Awards that come from the NBA. Not just what I think, what other people think. And okay, cool. Okay, first team, got a couple second teams. Okay, Kawhi, you got Defensive Player of the Year. I don't really know nobody that I can just call off my phone and get defense. What do I need to do?
Ooh.
You need to block more shots, man.
Okay.
And take more charges. Okay. Then last year, career-high steals, Top 10 charges, number 1 guard block shots, don't make a fucking team, Draymond Green. Now I'm angry. You know what I'm saying?
Absolutely.
So like, but it comes with it. Okay, go on. That's the whole beauty of it. Let's start this shit. Let's start it from the beginning. Let's get better. Let's wrap it all up. That didn't work, scratch that. Scratch you, that training shit I did with them hamstrings, fuck that. Let's work on the quads today. You know what I'm saying? Whatever it is to get better, bro. We gotta get better 'cause we gotta make a team. That's the only way I can solidify. I'm trying to piece together ways of, you know, of trying to individually getting better. I don't know if that's my body, I don't know if that's my mind. So Draymond, I just go through a phase one year, I just start looking at all coaches, bro. I start looking at all the coaches who came out the top. I came, all the coaches who came outta Mike Budenhose's system. I started looking at all the coaches, what system they running, where they at now, where, okay, if an offense is driving the ball, where's the ball getting driven from the most of the time? I'm getting my numbers. Okay, slots, slot drives. Okay, I can take it back I can be in charge, Lance. Okay, cool. I got the respect around the league. They let me fuck a foul. I can knock the shit outta people. They won't call it, especially the young guys. I gotta watch how I do Steph though, because they might try to kick me out. Then I went through a whole phase of like, okay, like with tendencies. So I have all my trainers like, man, fuck. Okay, cool. Like, fuck the skill this summer. I need to know, I need to spend a year of just knowing players. I was overseas, so I didn't play against these guys in college. I didn't know how such and such moved off screens or how such and such move. I just, I just didn't know. I just knew, okay, give me Tennessee. So I spent one summer, bro, weight room, conditioning, and film study. Not even basketball skill. I had to sacrifice a year of my basketball skill, 'cause I understand like, okay, that shit go come. I'm gonna get up all the attempts, all the shots, that shit's go come. I gotta stay in this league. In order for me to stay in this league, I gotta pick up 94, I gotta cause havoc, I gotta know what's going on, and I have to know Tennessee's, I have to know Tennessee's better than my coaching staff.
Right.
So I'm going through the— and I'm going through different plays and I'm going through different people. Okay, Steph Curry, obviously, man, I can't touch him like I want to. All right, cool. Watch that left hand, you know, kind of send him left 'cause he don't really like that. Okay, Klay, I gotta stay down on him. You know, I'm facing Dame. Okay, he might pull deep, but I'm living with that shit. That really can't beat me consistently, not all game. And if he does, then fuck it, you got me tonight. You understand what I'm saying? Okay, KD. Okay, cool. He's never really seen a player like me guard him, not a small one. So fuck it, I'm gonna just take his legs up on him. I'm gonna put my fucking back on his fucking hamstrings every fucking play. Until it's too much. I'mma keep going until either I get kicked out or it's too much for him, Dray. I gotta get it, bro. I have to get it, Dray. I do. 'Cause ain't nobody gonna go get it for Pat Bear. Like, I gotta go get it on my own. And that's what became my— you know, add that to the addiction that I have to wanna win now, like, it's a sick combination, bro. It really is.
