| Go ahead and laugh at Patrick Beverley. Mock him, if you must. Sneer at his over-the-top celebrations. Deride him as a player trying to compensate for below-average NBA talent with extra aggressiveness and a whole lot of noise. Chuckle away. You’re in good company. But if you take that path, just know this: Just like with LeBron James, or Shaquille O’Neal, or Charles Barkley, or millions of others, the joke is on you. It’s not on Beverley and it’s not on the Minnesota Timberwolves. Yes, to get outrageously pumped about winning a 7 vs. 8 play-in game is in firm flagrance of the NBA’s too-cool-for-school popularity guidebook. But when you’re a team that has made the postseason just once since the days Kevin Garnett was in town, being down with the cool kids isn’t something you need to be concerned about. And when you’re Beverley, a 6-foot-1, No. 42 draft pick who’s found a way to stay in the league for 13 years – and you’ve just beaten the team that got rid of you, and you’ve just delivered on a playoff promise to your new club – holding back on the joy because social media might not like it isn’t going to be part of your thinking. “Beverley isn’t a great player,” FOX Sports’ Chris Broussard said on FS1’s “First Things First.” “But his leadership in the locker room, the energy he has brought, has been huge for this team.” Beverley is an unabashed pain in the butt for whoever he faces off against. The bigger the stakes get, the more difficult he is going to try to be. He is his team’s agitator-in-chief. He will talk and talk and talk and prod opponents with mental jabs. He will scrap and fight for every loose ball. He will throw himself into the fray. And sometimes, like against the LA Clippers on Tuesday, he will produce something inspired, like a late steal to ice the game as part of the Timberwolves’ surging comeback in the fourth quarter. Minnesota is not the most talented team in the playoffs. They might be one of the least talented. They’re going to be a firm underdog against the Memphis Grizzlies, with FOX Bet listing Ja Morant and Co. a 7-point Game 1 favorite. But bet your last dollar on this … the Grizzlies will know they’ve been in a struggle, no matter what the outcome. That’s how this Minnesota group does it. What was a young and somewhat soft lineup before Beverley arrived, has found its voice. Anthony Edwards followed his 30-point showing by jumping onto the scorer’s table with Beverley on Tuesday, prompting O Neal and Barkley to hum “We Are the Champions” and “One Shining Moment” in jest. The Timberwolves crowd appreciated the spirit, screaming with delight when Beverley tossed his jersey toward them, as James prepared his derisive ‘I’m laughing so hard I’m crying’ tweet. Yes, the Timberwolves greeted their qualification for the postseason with as much glee as some teams do when they win a championship. But the Western Conference’s No. 7 seed does things its own way and makes no apology for it. This isn’t a year-on-year playoff contender. Let them have their fun. Save the wisecracks. When Beverley arrived from the Clippers at the start of the season and promised a playoff spot, it wasn’t anything close to a given. But he believed and if you think that their position in the bracket is just because of Karl Anthony Towns, or Edwards, or D’Angelo Russell, you’re not seeing the full picture. Beverley saw a hole he could fill and that his brand of underdog energy fit perfectly with a place that can’t be jaded by success, because it hasn’t had any. That is exactly why none of the snark-casm from outside this week has mattered. The irony of James taking an online shot after his insipid Los Angeles Lakers fell out of the top 10 altogether is a whole other discussion, but no one, whoever they are, is entitled to look down their nose at the Timberwolves and their journey to here. Make jokes if you must, but be aware of what you’re laughing at. You’re laughing at a team that dared to trust itself, that punched above its weight, that used such old-fashioned virtues as togetherness and spirit, rather than leaning on star power. And, oh yeah, once they achieved their primary goal and did so with a comeback filled with drama and courage, they allowed themselves to enjoy the moment. That’s a vibe the NBA needs more of, not less. |
