For a lot of NBA players, the next few months could be a struggle for them. They’ll be away from their families for an unknown period of time while being limited to a “bubble” in Orlando. However, it will be quite the opposite for Clippers guard Patrick Beverley, who is doing everything he can to take advantage of this opportunity.
“Never better,” when asked how he was doing on The JJ Redick Podcast. “I say that with all the intent of being 100 percent honest. For me, I’m not a guy who reads a lot of extra shit. It’s been cool. I think for me, the idle time is important. Getting away from family and friends. I like to stay in tune with myself. Looking within yourself, making sure you’re doing everything you need to do to hit your life goal. If you handle it the right way, anything can be a good thing, it’s all about perspective.”
With nearly every NBA team being in this bubble, it’s tough to really see an advantage going to a certain team because everyone is in the same situation. Though, Beverley thinks there still is a way that players can somehow get the edge over one another.
“I think it’s all about the person,” he said. “It’s about who takes advantage of the necessary idle time they have. People who stay mentally sharp throughout this whole thing, I think those players on the teams will sustain success.”
Staying mentally sharp is the perfect way to put it. Though the situation and environment have both changed, Pat is still the same old Pat. According to his teammate Reggie Jackson, Beverley is the same guy in the bubble now compared to the guy he was back when the team was in LA during the regular season.
“[He] is nothing but energy,” Jackson said in regards to his teammate. “He’s finding ways to get guys energized each and every day, whether it just be yelling at us just to be vocal and just talk to each other and have fun. He’s always playful when he’s on the court. So he’s been leading that charge.”
As expected, Beverley just doesn’t have that love for his teammates and mindset on the court. He has it everywhere.
“We’re all locked up now in quarantine, can’t leave your room, but it’s probably 2:00 a.m. and all we get is a “Yoooo! Yoooo!” Everybody is like, what is going on?” Jackson said when speaking to reporters. “Bev is just yelling through walls, making sure everybody is good.
“It’s the first day, he’s just checking, everybody opening their doors saying what’s up, looked at each other, and that made, I guess, the first part of the 24 hours of lockdown even better, just knowing that your teammates were there with you. That’s just something very simple, but the guy is constant energy, a lot of intangibles. He has a lot of intangibles, and he’s great with the team.”
If that doesn’t speak volumes to the kind of guy Beverley is, I don’t know what will.