NBA suspends Lakers' Patrick Beverley for three games

Alex Kennedy
Nov 24 2022

The NBA has suspended Los Angeles Lakers guard Patrick Beverley three games for forcefully shoving Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton from behind during their game on Tuesday night.

The league added that the suspension was based on his "history of unsportsmanlike acts."

The three-game suspension will cost Beverley $268,965 in salary.

“Tough foul, hard foul, Austin [Reaves] gets knocked down, there’s a little bit of chirping going on with Book and Ayton and some of our guys, and then from what I saw, Ayton was just standing there about to walk over him,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham told reporters on Tuesday. “And then Pat Bev... you don’t want this to be a tough-man competition. You actually want to play tough basketball. But at the end of the day, I’m not mad at him. He’s there protecting his teammate.”

This season, Beverley is averaging 4.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and a steal, while shooting 26.6% from the field, 23.8% from three-point range and 82.4% from the free-throw line.

The Lakers are 5-11, which is the second-worst record in the Western Conference. Check out the incident with Ayton below: