"This f**king guy is saying LeBron James and Anthony Davis get to play with me 'cuz I made the playoffs last year, they didn't!" - Nick Wright slams 34-year-old veteran, questions his lack of self-awareness

Los Angeles Clippers v Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers

Patrick Beverley sees himself as the alpha on the LA Lakers team comprised of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. On "What's Wright with Nick Wright," Nick Wright ripped into Pat Bev, saying he lacked self-awareness. He gave examples of teams doing better when the defensive-minded guard was out of the picture.

"He (Patrick Beverley) says 'anywhere I go we make the playoffs.' Fun fact, he was in Houston, they never made it out of Round 2. He then got hurt, they make the conference finals for the first time since Hakeem (Olajuwon) was there."
"They then traded him, after not making another conference finals for a couple of years, then immediately make the conference finals again. He goes to be Clippers and they're a tough scrappy team and then they lose Kawhi Leonard, they make the conference finals."
"Do you know what Ty Lue's big adjustment was? He benched Patrick Beverley. And here's the problem, the lack of self-awareness."

After giving an idea of Beverley's value in the trade for Rudy Gobert that sent him to the Utah Jazz, he continued:

"Then the Lakers called them, they're like, 'Hey, we have this kid Talen Horton Tucker,' and the Jazz were like oh the guy who according to the nerdy numbers, player efficiency rating value over replacement player was the second worst player in the entire league to get regular minutes last year?' They're like, 'Yeah, we want to trade him to you.'"
"And that team was like, 'Oh boy, we'd give you Pat Bev straight up one for one will you do it?' That's it. And this f**king guy is saying LeBron James, arguably the greatest player ever, inarguably one of the three greatest players ever, and Anthony Davis, who's a top 75 guy and a champion, they get to play with me because I made the playoffs last year they didn't."

In his first interview as a Laker, Beverley was asked what it would feel like to play with AD and James, and the guard said they would be playing with him. His stance was because he made the playoffs with the Minnesota Timberwolves last year, and the Lakers did not.

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Can LeBron James and Anthony Davis win another NBA title?

In their first year together, LeBron James and Anthony Davis led the Lakers to their 17th title. However, the team has not had much success since its 2020 championship run. They were the early favorites to win in 2021 but lost in the first round to the Phoenix Suns.

Things went downhill from there, as the Lakers completely missed the playoffs last year. Their gamble to stack the roster with veterans backfired, as younger players outran the team.

Russell Westbrook's addition did not produce the expected result. The All-Star guard was brought in to carry the load in a case where James and AD were unavailable but failed to deliver.

The Lakers have another opportunity to take advantage of LeBron James' presence to go on a championship run.

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