Patrick Beverley Sends Russell Westbrook Message as Retirement Decision Nears

While Westbrook announced on Instagram earlier this summer that he intended to play an 18th season, a decision on potential retirement draws nearer with each day he remains unsigned.

Patrick Beverley Reacts to Russell Westbrook Remaining Unsigned in Free Agency

No team picking up Westbrook this late into the summer has many people surprised, including his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Patrick Beverley. During Wednesday's episode of his Pat Bev Podcast, the former All-Defensive guard shared his thoughts.

"It's a little disrespectful that Russ hasn't been signed yet," said Beverley. "I'm gonna be honest... You ask [Nikola] Jokic, they loved to play with him. You ask Aaron Gordon, they loved to play with him."

Jokic and Gordon enjoying their time with Westbrook makes sense. According to the NBA’s official lineup data, the five-man combination of Westbrook, Christian Braun, Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. and Jokic posted the third-best net rating (23.5) of any full lineup in basketball that tallied at least 100 minutes together last season.

Beverley also acknowledged the negative outside perception of Westbrook, offering first-hand experience about the truth of playing alongside him.

"First he was this cancer," Beverley said of Westbrook's reputation. "When I was with the Lakers, I was like, 'Russell Westbrook cancer?' Hell no. The [expletive]? He was stretching every day with the team. Every single day. Russ is elite. [Expletive] elite. It's shocking to me he hasn't been picked up yet."

Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook Have History

This endorsement from Beverley is especially significant, because he and Westbrook have a complicated history. In 2013, Beverley injured Westbrook during a playoff series between the Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder. Diving into the star point guard's knee after the whistle, Beverley caused a meniscus tear that sidelined Westbrook for the rest of that postseason.

The two then had multiple heated exchanges in head-to-head matchups the next several years. This culminated in Westbrook's infamous "Pat Bev trick ya'll" comments following a Rockets-Clippers game in 2019 (h/t ESPN's Tim MacMahon).

In 2022, Beverley said those comments from Westbrook "damaged" his career, and changed the way others around the league viewed his ability (via Bleacher Report). Joining forces on the Lakers later that year, the two veteran guards squashed their beef and have since been publicly supportive of each other — as seen again on Beverley's latest podcast.