'First Take' anchor Stephen A. Smith wants Los Angeles Lakers guard Patrick Beverly Suspended for his dirty play against Phoenix Suns player DeAndre Ayton.
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The Notorious Patrick Beverly has earned a reputation for getting technicals for foul plays on the court and after the whistle. His recent ejection came on thanksgiving With less than four minutes left in the Lakers’ 115–105 loss to the Suns. Los Angeles Lakers guard Patrick Beverley got an ejection after shoving Phoenix center DeAndre Ayton to the floor. This is not the first time either DeAndre Ayton or Patrick Beverly have gotten into an altercation. Ayton’s most recent on-court squabble came against Draymond Green And Klay Thompson, where-in both Devin Booker and Klay Thompson received ejections. It was Thompson’s first career ejection. Similarly, Beverly and Ayton were going back and forth all game, and the incident happened after Booker’s flagrant one foul on Austin Reeves. Patrick Beverly said, “Obviously, it’s unfortunate that it happened on national TV. But you know me: Regardless of what’s going on, I’m a big fan of protecting my teammates. … I’m a foxhole guy. I put on the jersey, and I commit to a team, I commit to a city, and it’s kind of my motto. I’m a foxhole guy. Very unfortunate situation, though.”
‘First Takes’ anchor and host Stephen A. Smith wants Beverly to be suspended for shoving DeAndre Ayton. Stephen A. Smith said, “You shoved Deandre Ayton for what? Because he’s staring at Austin Reaves? It’s ridiculous. You’ve got to suspend him.” According to Beverly, he did it because of Ayton’s stare-down on Reeves and the contact he made with the Los Angeles Lakers guard.
Ayton never hit Los Angeles Lakers guard Reaves in the face, but his lower leg did make contact with Reaves while Reaves was on the ground. While Reaves was turning and looking up at Ayton, Beverley charged Ayton. Stephen A. Smith on ‘First Take’ was visibly disappointed with Beverly’s decision and wants him suspended. According to Smith, Beverly should get suspended for more than a few games since he is a repeat offender. Another element of the ordeal that disturbed Smith was that the shove was from the back and was completely unnecessary.
Smith spoke about the Chris Paul shove in the 2021 playoff series between Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns. He pushed Chris Paul from behind when with the Clippers late in Phoenix’s Game 6 closeout victory in the 2021 NBA Western Conference finals in Los Angeles. Stephen A. Smith also pointed out that both the shoves were behind the back, which is completely unacceptable.
Recently, Ayton and Los Angeles Lakers bench player Beverley both received technical fouls, and Ayton was ejected from the game with Phoenix leading, 106-96, with 3:55 left in the game. Ayton said, “It didn’t hurt me. It didn’t take anything out of my pocket, and I didn’t react. I’m making sure I stay solid. I didn’t react. They’re not getting me.” Hopefully, the league will look into such unethical plays since Beverly has a history of being involved in such altercations.
