Patrick Beverley-Malinda Adams interview: Bucks guard won't talk to ESPN reporter over podcast subscription

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Bryan Murphy
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Patrick Beverley is known for playing with passion, but he took things too far Thursday night after the Bucks were eliminated by the Pacers in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. 

The Milwaukee veteran guard let his emotions get the best of him late in the 120-98 loss to Indiana. Beverley got into a ball-throwing contest with a couple of fans, chucking the rock at an unsuspecting bystander in the process. 

That was not the worst of it. During his postgame media availability, Beverley rudely turned away a question from ESPN's Malinda Adams, shoving her microphone away from him while denying her the chance to talk to him. 

The reason? Apparently she doesn't subscribe to his podcast, The Pat Bev Podcast With Rone. 

"Do you subscribe to my pod?" Beverley asked Adams, which she said she did not. "Then you can't interview me then. No disrespect."

While this is seemingly the first time it's been brought up to the public's eye, this has reportedly been a trend since Beverley started his podcast. Since arriving in Milwaukee at the trade deadline, the veteran guard refused questions from any reporters who don't subscribe to his show, according to CBS Sports' Jack Maloney and Journal Sentinel's Lori Nickel. 

Adams revealed Friday morning that Beverley and the Bucks reached out to apologize for the incident. 

The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that the NBA is looking into Beverley’s exchange with the media. 

As a result of his interaction with Adams, Front Office Sports reported that Beverley is banned from making appearances on future ESPN programs. However, there was a conflicting report from Sports Business Journal's Austin Karp that said Beverley is not banned from ESPN airwaves.

ESPN PR released a statement on Saturday saying that there is no ban in place preventing Beverley from appearing on the network's shows, providing clarity on the situation.

Since the Bucks' season is over, there won't be many more opportunities for Beverley to deny questions from those who don't follow his platform, until next fall at least. However, this latest incident adds to his history of tense interactions with reporters. 

MORE: Tyrese Haliburton trolls Patrick Beverley with Damian Lillard tweet

Who is Malinda Adams?

Adams is a bureau field producer for ESPN. She has been at the company in the role since 2011. 

Given her status as one of the veterans producers in the field, it shouldn't be surprising to see that a number of her ESPN colleagues came to her defense on social media, blasting Beverley in the process. 

Patrick Beverley throws ball at fan

With 2:32 remaining in the blowout loss, Beverley's emotion boiled over, resulting in him throwing the basketball at an unsuspecting fan. The spectator was two rows behind the Milwaukee bench when the guard chucked the ball, striking the viewers in the head. 

Another fan tossed the ball back to Beverley, but he responded by heaving it with full force back at the fan. Thankfully, this fan was paying attention and deflected the ball with his hands.

It was reported on Friday that the fan allegedly yelled "Cancun, Cancun on 3" towards the Bucks bench, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania. The NBA is looking into Beverley’s exchange with the fans in the game. 

Beverley initially pushed back on the altercation, placing some of the blame on the fans and saying that the team "asked for help" in regards to the viewers throughout the night.

On Friday morning, he owned up to his mistake, stating that he has "to be better." 

Patrick Beverley-Michele Roberts incident 

Beverley has a history with poor relationships with media members. 

During the 2020 bubble, Beverley caught flak from not just reporters, but also fellow NBA players as well, after comments he made during a players' union meeting towards executive director Michele Roberts. 

In a report from Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes titled "Inside the emotional 48 hours that saved the NBA's bubble," Haynes reported that Beverley got into a disagreement with Roberts about the financial ramifications of leaving the bubble.

This is what Haynes reported at the time:

While she was going over the numbers, Clippers guard Patrick Beverley abruptly interrupted her, saying he disagreed with her logic, sources said. Roberts kindly reiterated that these were potential losses the players would suffer, and Beverley interrupted again. 

Roberts asked politely if she could continue with her point, and Beverley responded, "No, I pay your salary," sources said.

This caused an uproar with Paul, Haslem and others, who intervened and told Beverley that disrespect would not be tolerated, sources said. 

Beverley opened up about the incident soon after, brushing over the altercation. 

"We had a very interesting conversation," Beverley said. "The [players' association] is like a family. And I'm pretty sure everyone here is part of a family. You don't always agree with your family members and that's okay. You communicate your values and try to make it better. Whatever the dialogue was, or whatever you guys think it is — we made things better yesterday meeting with the owners, and that's the most important thing." 

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Bryan Murphy

Bryan Murphy is an NHL content producer at The Sporting News.