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Analyst Nick Wright criticized Minnesota Timberwolves guard Patrick Beverley for Beverley's scathing comments on Chris Paul.
Wright said Beverley does not have the cache to disrespect Chris Paul given his standing as a player and the way he is regarded by his peers. On "What's Wright? with Nick Wright," Wright said:
"It's a weird thing, but Patrick Beverley is in the exact wrong position to be disrespectful of a great athlete. Here are the people that rightly or wrongly, the general public has no problem with being disrespectful of a great player: other great players, Shaq and Barkley on 'Inside The NBA' can say whatever they want or guys like me who never played.
"If you never play, if you're Stephen A (Smith), if you're me, you can just crush people and be like, 'Oh, that's the job.'"
Nick Wright continued:
"If you're an all-time great it's like, 'Oh, you got to listen to him, he's an all-time great. If you were a role player, people are like, 'How dare you take a shot at Chris Paul like that?'
"It's a really weird thing where if Beverley was just way worse at basketball and never made the NBA, nothing he'd be saying would be considered that out of line, but because he's good enough to make the NBA but not good enough to be a good NBA player, he's getting a flamethrower."
Patrick Beverley's criticism of Chris Paul
It is no secret that Patrick Beverley and Chris Paul do not like each other. The two were once traded for one another when the Houston Rockets moved Beverley to the LA Clippers as part of the package to acquire CP3.
This dislike for one another has boiled onto the court as well. Last year, Beverley shoved Paul in the back in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals.
Beverley recently appeared on numerous shows on ESPN and has launched a scathing attack on Paul, especially his defense. He rightfully pointed out the number of times the Dallas Mavericks targeted CP3 in the Western Conference semifinals. That's one of the primary reasons why Dallas won the series.
While Paul is far more distinguished, the Minnesota Timberwolves defensive stalwart has some points. CP3's defense has been lacky, and his lack of success in the postseason is an issue, given Paul's tendency to lose after being up 2-0.
Guess the Lakers players!
