NBA suspends three games Patric, Beverley, of the Lakers

The NBA suspended Patrick Beverley of the Los Angeles Lakers for three games on Thursday, two days after he was ejected for shoving Phoenix Suns’ Deandre Ayton in the back.

The penalty will cost the player $268,966, equivalent to 2.1% of his $13 million salary.

It is the second time that the point guard has been suspended for pushing someone from behind; The previous time he did the same was in the Los Angeles Clippers’ last playoff game in 2021. Beverley pushed Chris Paul from behind and had to sit out the first game of the 2021-2022 season.

“The suspension was based in part on Beverley’s history of unsportsmanlike conduct,” the NBA said when announcing the penalty.

The player was ejected Tuesday with 3:55 remaining in the game that the Lakers lost on the road 115-105 against Phoenix.

The Suns’ Devin Booker flagrantly fouled Austin Reaves, who was down briefly after the hit.

Ayton was heading towards Reaves who was still sprawled on the court when Beverley came up and shoved him away. Beverley and Ayton were charged with a technical foul but the former was sent off.

“A sudden foul, a strong foul; Austin gets knocked down, there’s some ruckus going on between Book and Ayton with some of our players, and from what I saw, Ayton was standing there and was going to run over him,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said Tuesday.

“And then Pat Bev… nobody wants a competition between tough men. You want strong basketball. Although at the end of the day, I’m not mad at him. He was there to protect his partner.”

The Lakers, who are 5-11 so far this season, were without Beverley for Friday and Saturday’s road games at San Antonio, as well as Monday’s home game against Indiana.

Beverley will be able to return to action against Portland. He is averaging 4.1 points per game this season, the lowest in his career, and an offensive effectiveness of just 27%.