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NBA fines Patrick Beverley for confronting son of Thunder minority owner
The NBA fined Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley $25,000 for “confronting a fan” at Chesapeake Energy Arena after the final buzzer of a 115-113 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of their opening-round series on Friday night.
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Beverley addressed the confrontation with reporters prior to Sunday’s Game 4 against the Thunder:
Pat Beverley: "I’m not OK with the blatant disrespect while I’m laying on the ground and a fan yelling out to me, ‘F you Patrick Beverley,"
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) April 23, 2017
Beverley: “I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary. I addressed him and said, “This is a game. There’s no need for blatant disrespect."
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) April 23, 2017
Beverley on what he said to the fan: "No curse words. No pointing fingers. I just let him know that just don’t do nothing like that.”
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) April 23, 2017
Pat Beverley addresses the incident involving an OKC fan. pic.twitter.com/j2MWDGxyIy
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) April 23, 2017
“This isn’t the first incident I’ve had with OKC,” he said. “I had a ball boy tell me he was going to kill me. What type of league — what is this?”
The league was investigating the incident over the weekend, according to multiple reports.
Patrick Beverley approached a fan after the game last night. League sources say NBA is looking into the situation for possible discipline.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) April 22, 2017
From Ramona Shelburne of ESPN:
In one postgame video, Beverley is seen exchanging words with a fan under the basket for about 10-15 seconds, as some other fans yell at him before security and team personnel arrive and Beverley leaves the court.
Whenever an incident occurs, the league reviews footage from the arena and television broadcasts to determine if the player went into the stands before determining if any discipline is appropriate, sources said. Beverley also will be interviewed.
According to Fred Katz of the Norman, Okla., Transcript, that fan was Stuart Scaramucci, the son of Thunder minority owner Jay Scaramucci.
A spokesman for the Thunder’s home arena said they intended to cooperate fully with the NBA:
Chesapeake Energy Arena Director of Marketing Tim Linville has released an official statement on the postgame situation involving Beverley: pic.twitter.com/EtIn0RbC4W
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) April 22, 2017
Thunder-focused blog Thunder Digest shared a snippet of video on Saturday afternoon that it claims shows some of the alleged confrontation:
Here is a small GIF of the live video between the fan and Patrick Beverley post game pic.twitter.com/4ZGkYvOx5c
— Thunder Digest (@Thunder_Digest) April 22, 2017
ESPN posted a brief video snippet, too, showing that Beverley fell into the stands underneath the basket along the baseline following a drive earlier in the game, after which the fan said something to him that clearly appeared to agitate Beverley. He restrained himself, though … until heading back over to the area after the game.
Beverley offered only a brief comment on the matter during the media portion of the Rockets’ Saturday workout:
Pat Beverley on alleged Game 3 fan incident: "The Rockets are taking care of the situation. I'll talk more after the investigation is done."
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) April 22, 2017
One potentially interesting wrinkle, via the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen:
Key point to NBA investigation of Beverley exchange with fan, the Rockets requested the review, source said.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) April 22, 2017
After performing well in the Rockets’ two series-opening wins back in Houston, Beverley struggled in Game 3 on Friday. He scored just one point while missing all six of his field-goal attempts, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing two assists against three turnovers before fouling out in 25 minutes, and struggled to contain Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook, who turned in his second straight triple-double of the series in the win.
After Friday’s loss, the Rockets still hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 tips at 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
More NBA coverage:
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
