Sports
Patrick Beverley apologizes to ESPN producer; Bucks guard will not reprise guest analyst role, sources say
Patrick Beverley came under scrutiny for his behavior during and after the Milwaukee Bucks’ Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
A video captured Beverley throwing a basketball into the stands in the final minutes of the Bucks’ blowout loss. After the game, Beverley had a tense exchange with ESPN producer Malinda Adams.
On Friday, Front Office Sports reported sources familiar with the network’s thinking informed the outlet that “ESPN management has banned Beverley from making further guest appearances on studio shows.”
However, another source with knowledge of the situation disputed the report to Fox News Digital, noting that Beverley had previously served as a guest analyst for the network. But a decision had been made long before Thursday night’s incident not to invite him back.
Patrick Beverley of the Milwaukee Bucks dribbles against the Indiana Pacers during Game 6 of the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs May 2, 2024, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
Adams confirmed Beverley and the Bucks contacted her and offered an apology.
“I want to thank everyone for their kind words and support. I am humbled. Patrick Beverley just called me and apologized. I appreciate it and accept it. The Bucks also reached out to apologize,” Adams wrote on X, formerly Twitter. ” I’ve been in news for over 40 years and kindness and grace always win.”
NBA LEGEND MAGIC JOHNSON POINTS FINGER AT LOAD MANAGEMENT AFTER LAKERS’ EARLY PLAYOFF EXIT
The situation began when Beverley asked Adams if she subscribed to his podcast.
“You subscribed to my pod?” Beverly asked.
“I do not,” Adams replied.
Milwaukee Bucks guard Patrick Beverley (21) dribbles while Indiana Pacers guard T.J. McConnell (9) defends during Game 6 of the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. (Trevor Ruszkowski/USA Today Sports)
Once Beverley learned Adams’ account was not one of the 260,000-plus that subscribed to “The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone” podcast, he told her she could not interview him.
“You can’t interview me then. No disrespect,” Beverley said.
ESPN did not directly comment on the incident between Beverley and Adams, but the network did express its support for the veteran journalist.
“Malinda is a well-respected colleague and a true professional. She has our full support,” ESPN said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
During the game, cameras showed Beverley sitting on the bench before he eventually stood up and launched a basketball at a female Pacers fan sitting behind the team’s bench. The ball hit the fan in the head.
He appeared to motion to get the ball back. And when it was returned, he again threw the ball at another fan, who was able to deflect it.
Coaches and other players stepped in an attempt to defuse the situation, but Beverley appeared to continue to exchange words with the fans sitting behind him.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith commented on Beverley’s behavior Thursday night.
“I just can’t believe he did that,” Smith said. “I’ve known Patrick Beverley for years. I love the brother. It’s inexcusable. It’s indefensible.”
Beverley later acknowledged his actions in the ball-throwing incident.
“But I have to be better. And I will,” he wrote on X.
Beverley also suggested video that surfaced on social media did not take into account the fan’s constant heckling throughout the game.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Patrick Beverley gets past Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton during the first half of Game 1 of a playoff game April 21, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
“Not Fair at all. Exchanged between a fan and our ball club all night. We warned and asked for help all night. Not fair,” Beverley wrote in reference to the video.
Smith said he believed the woman who was hit by the basketball was not the intended target, but he also made it clear Beverley should never have hurled a basketball into the stands in the first place.
“When he threw the ball into the stands, he did not mean to throw it at the woman. He meant to throw it at the guy that was in front of her … when he thew it the second time. But you should’ve never (thrown) it the first time. That’s not something that you do,” Smith said.
“You don’t do that. And Lord knows we (aren’t) trying to excuse anything the fans do and the things that they may say. … You can’t do that. Players are victimized by fans a lot with some of the verbiage they throw at these players.
“But that does not absolve you from exercising your professional decorum and your professional obligation to yourself, to the franchise you represent and to the league you represent. You don’t do that.”
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj contributed to this report.
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Sports
Scottie Scheffler praises police for being 'our protectors,’ describes interactions with them while in custody
Scottie Scheffler was in unfamiliar territory early Friday morning, as he was arrested en route to the PGA Championship at Valhalla.
The ordeal had Scheffler feeling “pretty rattled, to say the least,” and he admitted it took him a “few holes” to feel somewhat normal again.
But in a somewhat ironic twist (he is facing a felony charge of second-degree assault on a police officer), the officers who were involved in placing Scheffler in custody wound up playing a role in calming him down.
Scottie Scheffler of The United States walks off the tee on his first hole, the par 5, 10th hole with his playing partner Wyndham Clark during the second round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Kentucky. (David Cannon/Getty Images)
“The officer that took me to the jail was very kind, he was great. We had a nice chat in the car, that kind of helped calm me down. I was sitting there waiting to go in, and I asked him, I was like ‘Can you just come hang out with me for a few minutes so I can calm down?…’” Scheffler said after his round. (He even joked that he had been stretching in a jail cell.)
“The officers inside the jail were tremendous.”
Scheffler even said he was the butt of some jokes made inside the jail “when they figured out who I was and what happened and how I ended up there.”
“This one older officer looked at me when I was doing my fingerprints and looks at me and goes ‘Do you want full experience today?’ I looked at him and go, ‘I don’t know how to answer that.’ He was like ‘Come on man, do you want a sandwich?’ I was like ‘sure, I’ll take a sandwich. I didn’t eat breakfast yet.’ They were really kind.
Scottie Scheffler of the United States reacts on the 18th green during the second round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER DAZZLES IN SECOND ROUND OF PGA CHAMPIONSHIP HOURS AFTER ARREST
“I’m thankful that we have such strong police. They’re our protectors out there. We just got into a chaotic situation this morning. That’s really all it was.”
Scheffler was detained at 6:01 a.m. ET and released just over two-and-a-half hours later, and arrived at Valhalla another half hour after that, 56 minutes before his tee time.
Starting on the back nine, the reigning Masters champion naturally birdied 10 to start the day. He followed with a bogey on 11 but responded with a birdie on 12.
After five-straight pars, he then ripped off four birdies in his next eight holes.
He finished the round two shots back of the lead, as Collin Morikawa rattled off five straight birdies at a point to head into the clubhouse at -11; Scheffler was -4 after the first round.
Scottie Scheffler of the United States speaks to the media during a press conference during the second round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Scheffler was booked into the Louisville Department of Corrections later Friday. He was also charged with criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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The Lakers announced dates and sites for three preseason games on Friday, including a game against the Golden State Warriors in Las Vegas on Oct. 15 at T-Mobile Arena.
The Lakers open preseason play Oct. 4 and 6 at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns, respectively. The complete preseason schedule will be released this summer.
Tickets go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. Tickets for the Warriors game will be sold at axs.com and the T-Mobile Arena box office. Tickets for Acrisure Arena will be sold at Ticketmaster and the Acrisure Arena box office.
Spectrum SportsNet will broadcast all preseason games. The preseason games can be heard on the team’s flagship radio station, 710 AM ESPNLA, as well as in Spanish on KWKW 1330 AM.
Scottie Scheffler teed off from the 10th hole in the second round of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Course in Kentucky just hours after he was arrested.
As his name was announced, and he stepped toward the tee box, Scheffler received a raucous round of applause. He would go on to birdie.
Scheffler got back to the course less than an hour before his tee time. He was tied for 12th at the start of the second round and released a statement. His first stroke hit just off the fairway.
“This morning, I was proceeding as directed by police officers. It was a very chaotic situation, understandably so considering the tragic accident that had occurred earlier, and there was a big misunderstanding of what I thought I was being asked to do,” he said. “I never intended to disregard any of the instructions. I’m hopeful to put this to the side and focus on golf today.
Scottie Scheffler warms up before the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club on Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Kentucky. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
“Of course, all of us involved in the tournament express our deepest sympathies to the family of the man who passed away in the earlier accident this morning. It truly puts everything in perspective.”
He was with Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman.
“Just a wild morning, man,” Harman told ESPN’s Marty Smith.
ESPN reported that Scheffler drove past a police officer in his SUV with markings on the door indicating it was a PGA Championship vehicle. The officer screamed at him to stop and then attached himself to the car until Scheffler stopped his vehicle about 10 yards later. ESPN reporter Jeff Darlington characterized it as a “misunderstanding with traffic flow” as authorities were investigating a traffic fatality earlier in the morning.
“Scheffler was then walked over to the police car, placed in the back, in handcuffs, very stunned about what was happening, looked toward me as he was in those handcuffs and said, ‘Please help me,’” Darlington said on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” “He very clearly did not know what was happening in the situation. It moved very quickly, very rapidly, very aggressively.”
Scottie Scheffler was booked into a Kentucky jail on May 17, 2024. (Louisville Department of Corrections)
XANDER SCHAUFFELE’S 9-UNDER START MAKES PGA CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
“Right now, he’s going to jail,” one officer at the scene told Darlington. “He’s going to jail and there ain’t nothing you can do about it.”
Scheffler was booked into the Louisville Department of Corrections later Friday. He was charged with second-degree assault of a police officer (a felony), criminal mischief, reckless driving and disregarding signals from an officer directing traffic.
Scheffler was coming off of four victories in the last five tournaments, including a second Masters title. He was home in Dallas the last three weeks waiting for the birth of his first child, which occurred on May 8.
Scottie Scheffler hits a drive at the 12th hole during the first round of the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on May 16, 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Xander Schauffele had the lead after the first round. He was 9-under par. Sahith Theegala, Tony Finau and Mark Hubbard were tied for second place at 6-under par.
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