Patrick Beverley says he was "pissed the f off" when Marcus Smart won Defensive Player of the Year, the first guard since Gary Payton to get it. Beverley credits a phone call with Tony Allen for his defensive approach and argues that respect from other players matters more than media awards.
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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. And speaking of the awards, you talked about the awards, you know, you got first team, which by the way, Pat Bev, he do first team, a lot of respect for Pat Bev. And I'm gonna shout out somebody who I know he got a lot of respect for from the same city, Tony Allen. Talk to me about Tony Allen. And his path through the league, and what impact did that have on you coming from the same city?
So, T.A., you gotta understand, T.A., Will Bynum, these are like the godfathers in Chicago.
Absolutely.
You understand? Obviously you have the Antoine Walkers, but these guys are way a little older than me. You know, I'm talking about games that I actually went to as a 7th grader looking like, "Man, I can't wait to play in this game." You know, like that. So when I got in touch with Will Bynum, He kind of gave me the blueprint. Like, you know, he was playing with Detroit at the time. Everyone, man, everyone plays offense. I'mma get you in touch with somebody, Pat. Y'all are literally twins. Y'all the same person. You need to talk to him. Okay, what's his name? Tony Allen. I'm overseas, so I'm like, hell yeah. Like, hell yeah. Like, hell yeah, I wanna talk to T.A. I talked to T.A. And he gave me like raw shit, like, "Like, so how's your grip strength?" And I'm like, "I don't know." "Do you do fingertip pushups?" Like, I'm, "No." "Like, how's your lunge?" Like, everything was about body, body, strength, strength, strength. Instantly, I hang up the phone. Draymond, I can't lie to you, bro. I hang up the phone, I go right to the weight room. I think I blank out in that bitch. I'm in that bitch lifting like 3 hours straight. You feel me? I gotta do what Tony Allen did. So now I'm seeing T.A., he doing his thing, Memphis. He playing y'all, he on the ground, he yelling the first team out. Oh my God. Like the impact he had with it. Like, okay, T.A., you from Chicago, I'm from Chicago, you the big homie. Like, can I get that? Just let me get that. You feel me? I know you on your way out. I ain't gonna do wrong by it. I'm gonna do right by it. I ain't gonna get no funny trouble. I'm gonna do right by it.
Yes.
He, man, with all respect, take it. You gotta, you know, and that's just always been my thing. You know, I always feel like I'm first team, no matter what, no matter what.
And you have that type of impact. You know what I'm saying? It's obviously a lot of people that vote on these things that, you know, that's a whole nother story. That's a whole nother story. But you have that type of impact. And I think the guys that you're guarding and the guys that gotta see you every night, they feel that way.
Right.
And the coaching staff.
Absolutely.
Facts. You know, you gotta be accounted for in a major way. "Ah, nope, don't bring him up. Send him back there. Let's try to bring this guy up." Absolutely. Nah, that's a fact. But, and speaking of defensive guys, Marcus Smart won Defensive Player of the Year. First guard since Gary Payton. What does that do for your psyche? Does that make you say, okay, now I can break through because I should have been in that conversation anyway? Or do you feel like that's a one-time thing where it's like, all right, let's check this box again. But it's not really possible for guards because like yourself, like Tony Allen, it's crazy that Tony Allen never won a Defensive Player of the Year Award. You talk to anybody who was anybody.
Kobe.
Kobe, Steph, Klay, you talk to these guys and most guys talk about Tony Allen's defense and like the defense that he played for years. I had the opportunity to witness him completely take us out of our offense. Do you think that opens doors or do you think that's kind of a check the box thing and goes back to the bigs?
So, you know, after when I seen the Marcus Smart thing, part of me was pissed the fuck off, Draymond. I ain't gonna lie, bro. And I'd be a fool not to sit, from a competitor standpoint, I'd be a cap sitting on here telling you I wasn't pissed off when that happened. Not from like, I don't want him to get it. From like, damn, I'm happy a guard got it, but damn, I've been sitting right here. Like, I've been sitting right here for years, but I respect it. A guard got it, you know? So now I'm like, okay, what do I have to do now? Do I have to block more shots? Do I have to—
Yeah.
Okay, fuck that, Pat. You gotta win more. You gotta win more. Okay, you gotta win more and you gotta be more healthy. Like, fuck playing 65 games. Fuck it, maybe you guys just gotta play the whole 82, Pat. OK, cool. So what does that mean now for the summertime? Ah, OK, maybe lift, a lot more rest now. You know, so like, again, a changing it, changing it, changing it, molding it, like, forming it, trying to make it fit, trying to make it work, trying to— OK, do you guys see me without, hey, look at me? You know?
Absolutely.
Like, do you see the work instead of— like, don't hear my voice, look at the work, you know? And that's kind of be my thing. But is it a one-time thing? I don't know. I hope not. Like, you know, I hope not. Is it fair? You got, you know, 6'9" guys, you know, the Rudy Gobert of the league, you know. I mean, do they defensively? Yeah, the numbers are there, but it's people like, you know, like again, that's another conversation, you know what I'm saying? So like, you know, so like it's, it, you know, I just wanna, I just wanted to be consistent, whatever the vote is. 'Cause it was a year I felt like you should have been a Defensive Player of the Year. And it was, man, how he only make first team? First team, like very interesting, but noted. Okay, you know? So that's the kind of thing I'm, you know, I'm flowing with. Is it, I need to be better in the media? Do I need to handle them nicer? I'm not gonna, you know, down myself to make another person happy just to get an award though. Like I'm not gonna do that.
Mm-hmm.
Like I'm not gonna do that. So what's the balance? Do I need to be nicer to the media? Do I need to, you know, 'cause you know, I'm not really a guy that's, you know, hey, how are you doing? I'm not the first name basis guy, When I was out there in Chicago on that block, wasn't nobody checking on Pat Bev. So I don't feel the need to make sure you— get away from my locker, motherfucker. I got some shit to do. Like, scoot over, you know? Like, you're really in my way. Like, you know what I'm saying?
Real talk.
So like, that's been my whole thing, you know? And man, is it awards or is it respect, Pat? Like, did you come in here for rewards, awards, or did you come here with respect? Like, if I can leave in a game and I got one of these top dudes, Dame or Steph, and they never admit it during their career, but when they done, they say, "Man, Pat Bear gave me problems." That's better than any award I can get, Draymond. I ain't gonna lie to you.
That's a fact. That's a fact. The respect of your peers goes way further than anybody else's respect. That's a fact.
Yeah. And I'mma just live on that.
Absolutely. As you should, because that's what everybody gonna remember. You know what I'm saying? And that's what ultimately drives us, you know? Yeah.
