Patrick Beverley takes surprise shot at Toronto Raptors

Five days ahead of a visit to Toronto to play the Raptors, Patrick Beverley took an odd shot at them on his podcast. Philadelphia 76ers guard Patrick Beverley has taken a surprising stance towards the Toronto Raptors, questioning the lack of a killer instinct among his team's players. This comes a day before the start of the NBA regular season. Beverley, who has played 593 games in the NBA for five other teams, expressed confidence in Toronto's current roster following the departure of veteran point guard Fred VanVleet. He also mentioned O.G. Anunoby and Pascal Siakam, but dismissed any threat to them. This comment came during a recent episode of the Pat Bev podcast. The 76ers are set to play Toronto this Saturday for their first game of the season, marking the return of new coach Nick Nurse at Scotiabank Arena.

Published : 2 years ago by Adam Laskaris in Sports

One day out from the start of the NBA regular season, an NBA vet is taking an interesting stance on the Toronto Raptors.

Philadelphia 76ers guard Patrick Beverley, who has played 593 games in the NBA for five other teams, doesn’t seem all that afraid of the current makeup of Toronto’s roster.

In a recent episode of the Pat Bev podcast, Beverley seemed to question the presence of a killer instinct among Toronto’s players.

“Who’s the dog of that team?” Beverley asked his cohost Adam “Rone” Ferrone about the Raptors following the departure of veteran point guard Fred VanVleet.

Ferrone asked about both O.G. Anunoby and Pascal Siakam, to which Beverley replied both times, “I’m cool.”

“I’ll see O.G. down a dark alley, I don’t feel like threatened. No disrespect for them. I’m saying, like if see Siakam with a ball in his hand in a dark alley, and there’s a rim in this b*tch, I feel good about this b*tch,” Beverley added.

While neither Anunoby nor Siakam has a reputation for being expressive, in-your-face type competitors, it’s an odd remark from Beverley nonetheless.

Anunoby is coming off a season where he landed on the NBA’s All-Defense team while leading the NBA in steals, and Siakam was named to the All-Star game this past February for the second time in his career.

However, Beverley does have the upper hand on Toronto when it comes to recent high-stakes games, as he defeated them as a member of the Chicago Bulls in last season’s 9-10 play-in contest to end the Raptors’ season.

Beverley and the 76ers are slated to visit Toronto this Saturday for their first matchup of the season, which also marks the first game back at Scotiabank Arena for new Philadelphia coach Nick Nurse after five seasons in charge of the Raptors.