When you talk about the most infamous quotes in NBA history, one that always gets brought up is Patrick Beverley reportedly telling Stephen Curry, "You had the last five years. The next five years are mine." On the latest episode of The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone, though, Beverley insisted he did not say that, back in 2019.
"Nah, The Clippers, we just put the monster team together as we thought, right? As we thought, looking back on it," Beverley said. "It was like, 'Nah, you had your time and now it's time to switch it up.' It wasn't ever like 5 years, nah. But it was good, so you know me, I'm like, 'Okay, alright. Let me run with this. Okay cool.' The internet is the internet. It played out the way it was supposed to play."
So, according to Beverley, he never said anything about the next five years being his, but the message he was trying to get across was about the same. The 36-year-old felt Curry and the Golden State Warriors' time was up and it was his and the Los Angeles Clippers' time to shine.
While that quote has aged terribly, I understand why Beverley was so confident at the time. In the 2019 offseason, the Clippers had landed Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, while the Warriors had lost Kevin Durant. The tide had seemingly turned in the "rivalry" between the two teams, and the start of the 2019-20 season only strengthened that notion.
The Clippers started the campaign by beating LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on opening night and followed it up by crushing the Warriors. They won 141-122 on Oct. 24, 2019, and it was during that blowout, that Beverley allegedly said those words.
As for Curry's response to the trash talk, he reportedly said, "Aren't you 31?" That was epic, if true. We need Curry to give his side of the story at some point. While we can't say for sure right now, as to what went down between the two men, what we do know is what has happened on the court since 2019.
Beverley and the Clippers never quite lived up to all the hype, as they were knocked out in the Western Conference Semifinals in 2020 and the Conference Finals in 2021. Then in the 2021 offseason, the guard's time with the team came to an end as he was traded away and he'd fail to even win a playoff series in the NBA in the years that followed.
Beverley made the postseason in 2022 and 2024 with the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Milwaukee Bucks respectively, but on both occasions, was knocked out in the first round itself. As for 2023, he and the Chicago Bulls made it to the Play-In Tournament but failed to advance to the playoffs.
Curry and the Warriors, meanwhile, have had their struggles since 2019, but they did accomplish something that Beverley couldn't, win a championship. They won their fourth championship together in 2022, ensuring the viral quote would go down in infamy. With Beverley now playing for Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel, I think it's safe to say Curry got the last laugh.
