Patrick Beverley dishes on finding his henchman in Bucks' forward recalling intense face-off with Nikola Vucevic
Last season, Patrick Beverley was acquired by the Chicago Bulls. As a Chicago native, Beverley quickly found himself as a fan favorite, helping fuel the team with his leadership. Despite his stint with the team resulting in a strong end to the season for the Bulls, he and the team parted ways this offseason.
After that, Patrick Beverley joined Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers for 47 games before becoming a member of the Milwaukee Bucks in Feb. 2024.
In a recent episode of the Pat Bev Podcast for Barstool Sports, the Bucks standout opened up about a tense situation between him and Nikola Vucevic last season, recalling that it seemed as though things had built up between the two.
In addition, he also joked about his teammate Bobby Portis being his new enforcer.
"The way he looked was like, oh, you had that built up. So now I'm thinking of my head. That was from that Detroit game in the Chicago," Beverley said. "He elbowed me in practice one time. It's a big boys league. He wasn't being a funny teammate but he was being a serious teammate. But I just didn't hear him. So I felt a little frustration.
"Watch out Vuc. I got Big Bobby behind me too now. I can pop my shit now. I got it. Yeah. You know he don't play. Bobby don't play. 'Say Bobby, Bobby, he hit me.'"
Looking at the rivalry between the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks amid Patrick Beverley's comments
Although Patrick Beverley may have been joking about Bobby Portis becoming his new enforcer versus Nikola Vucevic, the two really have a rivalry. The conflict dates back several years, and while the two teams' lineups have changed, Beverley is now on the opposing side.
Despite their success late last season, Beverley and the Bulls parted ways. Now, not only is he back competing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference alongside the Bulls, but he's also joined their rivals.
Going back to the infamous Grayson Allen foul on Alex Caruso that saw the former NBA champ suffer a broken wrist, the two sides have seemingly had a bit of beef. Although Allen now plays for the Suns, games between the Bulls and the Bucks continue to get chippy.
Just a week ago, after things began to get progressively more physical, Nikola Vucevic was ejected for a flagrant two-foot foul on AJ Green. The situation came after DeMar DeRozan picked up a technical foul in the third for complaining to officials about the Bucks' physical play, particularly toward Coby White.
The game highlighted the fact that despite Grayson Allen's departure, the Bulls and the Bucks still have quite a bit of animosity toward one another.