Clippers' Beverley dealt 1st NBA ejection after interaction with Mavs fan
Warning: Story contains coarse language
Veteran agitator Patrick Beverley made his presence felt in the Los Angeles Clippers' Sunday night game against Dallas Mavericks, though he was notably relegated to the locker room while his team came up short, losing 114-110.
Late in the third quarter, the 30-year-old point guard inadvertently knocked out one of Dennis Smith Jr.'s teeth while fighting on the floor for a loose ball. While Beverley escaped without so much as a common foul for his act of impromptu dentistry, the drama didn't stop there and he eventually forced the officials' hands in the fourth quarter.
After emerging from another loose-ball scrum with 9:10 left in the game, Beverley got up and bounced the ball at a courtside spectator, Mavericks superfan Don Knobler. The decision triggered a technical foul and Beverley's first ejection as an NBA player.
Smith Jr. was seen applauding Beverley as he was ushered from the court.
There are two accounts as to why Beverley elected to target that particular fan. According to Knobler, via ESPN's Tim MacMahon, after a back-and-forth in which he called Beverley a "dirty player," Knobler added "your mother."
Beverley's recollection of the matter differs in the degree of vulgarity: Instead of simply "your mother," the Clippers' guard said Knobler twice told him "f--- your mother," according to the Los Angeles Times' Andrew Greif.
"I told the referee. I told the security," Beverley explained. "I mean, I've never gotten ejected out of a game since I've been in the NBA. You know I play hard, (but) I play within the lines, of course."
"I've never heard 'f--- you mother.' Never," he added. "There's only so much you can stand for."
Clippers coach Doc Rivers understood Beverley's frustration, but disagreed with the way he handled the matter in a game that went right down to the wire.
"The (fan) said something about (Beverley's) mother. So, still, I told him at the end of the day it's not right, fans should have control, as well, and they shouldn't call you names, especially what I heard he called Pat and said something about his mom, but it's tough," Rivers said after the game, according to Greif.
"I told him this is the life we live and you've got to turn the other cheek even though I know it's hard," Rivers added. "But we can't get technicals, we just have to walk away. And then the league has to take care of stuff like that."