In this episode of the Draymond Green Show, Draymond Green and Patrick Beverley recount the infamous foul that sparked a multi‑year rivalry, reflect on how they moved from animosity to mutual respect, and explore deeper themes of work ethic, longevity, and cultural dynamics as Black men in the NBA. Green describes the moment he hard‑fouled Beverley during a Rockets game, noting how most players would have reacted with anger, yet Beverley simply made the free‑throw and laughed. The two discuss how that incident led to years of “beef,” even joking about seeing each other in chapel, before eventually recognizing each other's grind. They talk about the relentless 82‑game grind, the mindset of never taking their careers for granted, and how being booed by fans can become a badge of honor. The conversation also touches on the broader context of Black athletes handling conflict, gratitude for their continued presence in the league, and the personal philosophies that keep them motivated night after night.
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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. It's crazy. And I'm sure Jackson will find this clip. The Rockets, Pat Bev comes to the Rockets. First year we're playing against the Rockets and they're about to break a 3-point record on us. So Pat catches the ball in the corner. And he about to tee off the shot and I come outta nowhere, foul the shit outta Pat Ben. And now the way I foul him, and this is where everybody should've knew, bruh a little fucked up. The way I foul him, most people would get up upset. Actually, I'll tell you what most people would get up like. Most people would get up and act like they upset, act like they gonna fight. Yeah. And act like they gonna do all that. He hopped up like, "Shit, good foul!" And go to the free throw line and shoot the ball. And I'm like, "All right." So for those of y'all out there that don't know how to evaluate talent, there's a little key for y'all to know when you got another sick one. When they say, "Get fouled like that," they just hop up. You know, Joe D told me a story before, man. Joe D told me a story about Dennis Rodman. And he said, "Rick Mahorn laid Dennis Rodman's ass out." He said, "Dennis Rodman got up and said, 'Mm, now we're playing some basketball,' and walked to the free throw line." I couldn't believe it. But that's what that moment reminded me of. And I've been getting them stories from Jody's for years.
And when you did that, I'm like, "Oh, cuz, cuz, it's a little different out here." And people don't understand though, when that happened though, Draymond, People don't see, and I can't wait till people hear this. Like, this is like, this is a profound story. Like, so when that happened, me and Draymond, we begin our own little personal beef from that game, you know? And we were beefing for like 4 or 5 years to a point where it was like, we see each other in chapel. I don't know what to say. He don't know what to say. I'm looking at him, he looking at me. Okay, it's cool today, I guess. You know, like, and the older we got in the NBA, it's crazy that we sitting here right now, man. Like, God is good, bro.
Yeah. Absolutely, yes he is. The reality is, I think as two Black men, and it's a totally different thing, but as two Black men, we tend to keep that on, you know, and keep that going. That's so true. You know what I'm saying? And I'm happy that we were able to get past that. But also from a total basketball standpoint, you or I ain't supposed to still be here.
Right.
You know what I'm saying? Like we're not supposed to be here anymore. And so, The fact that you thriving and doing what you doing, I've been able to do what I do, bro. I don't take this for granted at all. And I know, and I tell people all the time, you don't take this for granted even more than I do.
No, man.
And the reason I say that, and what I'm getting at here is, you play, like, I can admit, I have some nights I come out and I just can't find it. I don't feel like there's ever a game where you can't find it. And to me, as someone who's known for playing hard, they play as hard as hell. Brother, walk me through that. 'Cause even to me, I just can't understand that. It's 82 games. You play every game you possibly can and you find it every night. Like, walk me through what's getting you going every single night you go out there.
So it started like with the conversation before. So it started at, The simplest thing of being the last kid picked, then that goes from high school to being, you know, Sheron Collins and Jonathan Steyer being ahead of me, you know? And that goes from college to, "Ah, man, Mario Chalmers and Carlos Arroyo, how the fuck they pick them over me?" You know, and it's all that animosity, it's all that shit built on me, on top of me, on top of me to a point when I was like, "You know what? Like, man, I remember I can listen to the American flag." Mm-hmm. Over there 5 years in a row. Like, I remember like, fans were booing me. I mean, they still boo me, but like fans were throwing stuff at me. It wasn't even like a, more of a hate thing. So when I get to the NBA, it's like, I'm not taking this for granted, man. I can't take this for granted. Every night I step out there, I'm giving it my all. So I might get hurt some years, just the way I play, put my body on the line, all that. But man, I, man, God brought me this far, man. I can't let him down. I gotta go hard, you know? And that's just always been my mentality. Like, just go hard. Not from like a, selfish, like a selfish part, not from like a, I want the money, like not from any of that. Just the point, like I'm in the NBA, I'm playing with the best of them. I want to be prepared every single night to go out there and be successful. And like, obviously I lose some battles. And with that mindset, I won a lot of battles too, you know?
So like—
Absolutely. You know?
Yeah. That's a fact. And I think you're, I spoke about this on my podcast, on this podcast during, during the finals. Some guys get booed and they get booed for several reasons. Some guys get booed because they quit. Some guys get booed because, you know, for whatever reason. And some guys get booed and it's a badge of honor.
Yeah.
And you are one of those guys that you get booed, it's a badge of honor. Because, and I can admit this, like I was once one guy that didn't believe like in everything you did. I respected your grind, but I just, I didn't see it. Like, and I saw the work ethic and I saw all of that, but it just didn't make sense to me until I really had to dive in. Like, but he do this every single night. Like every night, like, you know, sometimes you get caught up and you think like it's antics, it's this, it's that, but you can't keep antics up every single night. You can't do that. You know? And so—
Since I got to the league, right?
Like you, I honestly truly say that you made me a believer. You know what I'm saying? I can't sit here in your face and say I was always a believer. You made me a believer. Like you've made everybody believers. And I got a lot of respect for that. Draymond Green.
