Damian Lillard, Patrick Beverley Rekindle Old Feud After Heated Game

The two guards traded barbs on Twitter after a particularly contentious matchup Sunday night.

A heated matchup between Damian Lillard and Patrick Beverley carried over to Twitter following a particularly contentious contest between the Trail Blazers and Lakers on Sunday night. 

Taking to Twitter on Monday after Beverley helped spark L.A.’s come-from-behind, 121–112 victory, the two guards traded a series of jabs on Twitter. The first shot was fired by Lillard, who called Beverley a “con man” in response to an answer that the Lakers player gave during a postgame press conference.

During his media session, Beverley prodded ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin, who characterized Lillard’s 5-of-17 shooting performance as “a slow shooting night.”

“If he would have cooked me, you would have said ‘I couldn’t guard him.’ But he misses a couple shots and it’s a ‘slow shooting night,’” Beverley chuckled before suggesting what he preferred to hear from McMenamin. “’Good job on Dame’ that sounds better.”

The three-time NBA all-defensive honoree appeared to take note of Lillard’s tweet and seemingly responded to the Blazers star with one of his own.

“He mad,” Beverley wrote Monday. “Entertaining.”

In reality, the tension between Beverley and Lillard began on the court Sunday night. During the second quarter of the contest with Lillard at the free-throw line, he and Beverley began to chirp at one another, which caused an official to jump in and bring the free-throw attempt to a halt.

Beverley was given a technical for walking into the lane as Lillard was preparing to shoot.

As the game wound down and the Lakers sealed the victory with a 75-point outburst in the second half, Beverley also took advantage of the circumstances and trolled Lillard’s “Dame Time” celebration in spectacular fashion. 

Monday wasn’t the first time the two players had exchanged words on social media. Back in May, when Beverley was making a number of appearances on various NBA-related television shows, Lillard blasted the 34-year-old’s criticism of Chris Paul.

“Bra on TV acting like his word law,” Lillard wrote of Beverley. “Speaking on private convos and praying on mfs downfall. This weird behavior smh…”

Fans won’t have to wait long to see Beverley and Lillard back on the court together as the Lakers will travel back to Portland to take on the Blazers on Feb. 13. 


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Zach Koons
ZACH KOONS

Zach Koons is a programming editor at Sports Illustrated who frequently writes about Formula One. He joined SI as a breaking/trending news writer in February 2022 before joining the programming team in 2023. Koons previously worked at The Spun and interned for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He currently hosts the "Bleav in Northwestern" podcast and received a bachelor's in journalism from Northwestern University.