A Hyped-Up Patrick Beverley Says He’ll ‘Knock James Harden’s Ass Out’ Following Clippers’ Win Over The Lakers

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As is tradition, the National Basketball Association rolled out their famed Christmas Day games, as there was wall-to-wall basketball action from 12 in the afternoon to 12 at night.

Of all the Christmas Day games, the Los Angeles nightcap was the showcase matchup, as the LeBron James and Anthony Davis-led Lakers “hosted” Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and the Los Angeles Clippers.

After an epic game that saw the two NBA title contenders head into the decisive 4th quarter all tied up at 86, the Clippers would eventually pull away to defeat the current #1 Western Conference seed Lakers by a score of 111-106, largely due to a crunch time block by Patrick Beverley with just seconds remaining.

Following the game-winning block, the 31-year-old Beverley — who was named to his first NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2017 — was understandably hyped TF up. In fact, Beverley was so deliriously gassed up that as he dapped up Clips team owner Steve Ballmer, he said he’d “knock his ass out too” when someone in the crowd said “don’t make me call” Houston Rockets guard James Harden.

Editor’s Note: Both SportsCenter and ESPN’s Hayley Byrnes — who recorded and shared the video — originally published the quote as “knock his ass out”. Others on the internet hear “lock”. Personally, while I originally heard “knock”, now I simply can’t tell what the hell he’s saying, as the similarity of the words has caused this clip to become somewhat of an auditory illusion (remember ‘Yanny’ or ‘Laurel’? Same thing). 

The thing with Beverley is, he’s got that dog in ’em, he’s got that crazy in ’em — you never quite know what he’s going to do. You know how Mike Tyson chewed off Evander Holyfield’s ear? Same energy. Pat Bev is the type of dude to bring a gun to a knife fight and it’s that sort of slightly deranged attitude that makes him one of the league’s elite defenders.

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Eric is a New York City-based writer who still isn’t quite sure how he’s allowed to have this much fun for a living and will tell anyone who listens that Gotham City is canonically in New Jersey. Follow him on Twitter @eric_ital for movie and soccer takes or email him eric@brobible.com.