Patrick Beverley snubs Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert from his list of Top 5 centers in NBA
Veteran point guard Patrick Beverley recently ranked his top five NBA centers. Among his most notable omissions were this year's top two Defensive Player of the Year vote-getters, Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama.
While no longer in the NBA, Beverley continues to make headlines with his bold opinions on the league. On this week's edition of "The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone," Beverley's co-host Adam Ferrone asked him to rank "the starting five best centers in the NBA."
The Hapoel Tel Aviv star first named two of the league's premier superstars, the Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic and the Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid.
"Jokic is No. 1. Joel Embiid is No. 2, and I'm only doing that because Jokic has won a championship," Beverley said. "If Jokic didn't win a championship, Joel Embiid would be my No. 1."
However, Beverley's list quickly took an unexpected turn when he picked one of his former LA Clippers teammates, Ivica Zubac.
"Big Zu is a friend of mine. He's for sure top five," Beverley said. "He's maybe not three, maybe not four, but I'm putting him top five."
Zubac has been a nightly double-double threat the past few seasons. However, given his limited offensive skill set and defensive constraints, he is considered a high-end role player.
Ferrone laughingly pushed back on Beverley including Zubac, with the latter reiterating his stance.
"You asked me my question. Big Zu is a friend of mine. I told you before I gave you my answer," Beverley said.
For his final two spots, Beverley took a more conventional approach, choosing LA Lakers superstar Anthony Davis and Heat star Bam Adebayo.
"That leaves me two positions, probably three and four," Beverley said. "I'm gonna go Anthony Davis first, then Bam."
Thus, Patrick Beverley gave Zubac his fifth slot over Gobert, a four-time DPOY winner, including this year's victor. He also snubbed Wembanyama, this year's Rookie of the Year winner and DPOY runner-up, and Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis, a Top 10 MVP vote-getter.
However, the veteran was transparent about his thought process, valuing his friendship with Zubac enough to select him.
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Patrick Beverley says "positionless" Victor Wembanyama shouldn't be included in center rankings
While Patrick Beverley faced pushback for his top-five center rankings, he later defended his decision not to include Victor Wembanyama. According to Beverley, the 7-foot-4 big man's unprecedented versatility as a ball handler and outside shooter makes him positionless.
"He's not a five. He's everything," Beverley said. "You can't even put him in comparison with other people. ... Just because you're 7-foot-4 doesn't make you a center.
"We're talking about guys who are centers who come out and set screen-and-rolls. None of these guys that we're naming come up and shoot hesi pull-up 3s. ... It's not a position for him, he's positionless."
Beverley added that he expects the San Antonio Spurs rising star to be "the best player in the NBA next year."
Thus, if Wembanyama was eligible for Beverley's center rankings criteria, it appears he would have garnered his No. 1 spot.
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