Pat Bev got so mad a Pacers fan chanted ‘Cancun on 3’ at him that he pelted the wrong person with a basketball

If you were to ask me to describe Patrick Beverley to someone who didn’t watch the NBA, I would probably start with that he is essentially if you turned Twitter trolling into a person and made them among the best 200 players in the world at basketball. The likely-soon-to-be-former Milwaukee Bucks guard and part-time podcaster has had beef with basically everyone in the league at some point, including at least one current teammate, and now we can add “a random Pacers fan” to the (extensive) list.

Because you see, as much as Pat Bev has built a rep as the ultimate gritty winner — despite never winning a title or even making it to the NBA Finals — he is also one of the sorest losers there is, and as the clock ticks down on his teams’ inevitable playoff elimination, one never knows what he is going to do. He might shove Chris Paul from behind, or he might throw a ball at a fan who was (seemingly? maybe?) just trying to give it back to the Bucks bench.

If that second thing sounds kinda outlandish, rest assured it’s not: It’s actually exactly what happened as the Pacers turned the Bucks into injury-riddled first-round roadkill in a 120-98 closeout Game 6.

As one Twitter user noted, we finally found a game ball the Bucks do not want, so that’s fun.

UPDATE: Shams Charania of The Athletic got the inside scoop on what led to the exchange on Friday morning, and the reason Pat Bev was so pissed off is probably even funnier than you could have imagined:

With roughly two and a half minutes to play and down 20, Bucks guard Patrick Beverley threw a basketball at a fan behind him from the team’s bench. He appeared to miss his target, a male Pacers fan, instead hitting a female Pacers fan in the side of the head before asking for the ball back.

The man collected the ball and tossed it back to Beverley, who immediately over-the-head, double-hand chucked it back at the fan. The fan deflected the ball as Bucks staff and security stepped in, but the fan and Beverley continued to exchange words.

According to one source who witnessed the incident and two others who were briefed on it, the exchange between Beverley and one of the fans behind the bench escalated when the Bucks were breaking a huddle and the fan yelled, “Cancun … Cancun on 3.”

Normally Pat Bev only gets this mad and unprofessional if you tell him you don’t subscribe to his podcast, although this is still very funny. As fan taunts go, “Cancun on 3” is about as mild as it gets, and it’s kind of hilarious it made a man who has been in the NBA over a decade — and done plenty of taunting himself — mad enough to throw a ball at the same fan TWICE.

Also, I have questions: What did the guy think Pat was gonna do if he got the ball back? As hilarious (and on brand) it is that the journeyman guard missed the first time, did the guy think Bev was just gonna keep it this time if he tossed it back?

The reactions afterward are just incredible, too. From the fan’s hands up, “wtf is this guy’s problem?”, to Giannis’ “what is happening now?” look over towards Pat Bev, to his fellow member of The League of Pats, Pat Connaughton, just staring off into space with a towel, to then panning over to Pat Bev still staring the fan down; eternally standing on business, the whole thing is like a Renaissance Painting:

Image via TNT/@StephNoh on Twitter

The funniest part of this is that Pat Bev, just last game, trolled the entire Pacers team with a “too small” gesture as the Bucks pulled off an unexpected Game 5 upset. So even if he felt this fan was taunting him by... making clear eye contact and giving him back a basketball that had ended up in the crowd? ... he can’t act like he wouldn’t have been giving it to the hostile Indy crowd just as hard had the scores been reversed:

We’ll see when and where the #Belt2A$$ tour continues next after this latest May detour from its perpetually hoped-for — but never-reached — June destination. And how big the fine for this is going to be.