NBA suspends Bucks' Beverley for four games

Bucks guard Patrick Beverley was suspended for four games without pay for throwing a basketball multiple times at fans and for an “inappropriate interaction” with ESPN producer Malinda Adams after Milwaukee’s season-ending loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of their first-round series last week, the NBA announced Thursday.

Indianapolis police announced Wednesday they were opening an investigation into “an NBA player and citizen” altercation, after Beverley threw a ball multiple times in the fourth quarter of what ultimately became a 120-98 loss to the Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse a week ago.

Cameras showed Beverley throwing a ball into the stands, where it hit a fan in the head. After he asked for the ball back, and had it thrown back to him, he then fired it back at that fan.

Police said in a news release the case has been forwarded to detectives “who are currently investigating this situation and take all accusations seriously,” and that the case will be presented to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office after the investigation is completed.

In an episode of “The Pat Bev Podcast” released Wednesday, Beverley said he was called a word that he’d never been called before but added that his own actions were “still inexcusable.”

“I will be better,” he said. “I have to be better, and I will be better. That should have never happened. Regardless of what was said, that should have never happened. Simple as that.”

Beverley, who was on a minimum contract this season with the Philadelphia 76ers and then the Bucks, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. He would lose roughly $90,000 as a result of the suspension if he signs a minimum contract again next season, which is projected to be $3.3 million, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

After the game, Beverley wouldn’t allow Adams to ask him a question in a group interview in the locker room. He said it was because she didn’t subscribe to his podcast. Beverley told her to get her microphone out of his face and eventually asked her to leave the interview circle.

On his podcast Wednesday, Beverley said he had asked that of reporters who interviewed him ever since he launched his podcast. Beverley said he told Adams that “it was never my intent to disrespect you.”

Tim Frank, the NBA’s senior vice president of league operations communications, said in a statement that, “Patrick Beverley’s behavior towards ESPN producer Malinda Adams was unacceptable, unprofessional and failed to meet the standard that NBA players consistently meet in their interactions with the media.”

This isn’t the first time that Beverley, who just completed his 12th season in the NBA, has been suspended at the conclusion of a campaign. In 2021, he was hit with a one-game suspension while playing for the LA Clippers after shoving Chris Paul in the back as both players were walking to their respective benches late in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss to the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the Western Conference finals.

He served that suspension in the opener of the 2021-22 season as a result.

Beverley, who will turn 36 in July, averaged 8.2 points and 5.5 assists across the six games against Indiana in the playoffs, starting all of them.