It might still be the off season but that doesn’t mean its a dull day for NBA media outlets, because a new beef has just dropped. No, Steve Ballmer didn’t show up at Pablo Torre’s podcast, shouting ‘Here’s Johnny’. That one stems from the old guard asking the new guard to step up and being told to shut up instead.
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It’s is a backcourt battle between Trae Young and Pat Beverley. Earlier yesterday, Beverley thought it would be a cool idea to call out Trae on his podcast, the Pat Bev Pod. Today, Young responded via YouTube.
The beef began, as so many do, on X, when Beverley responded to the current crop of NBA players not giving their all during the All-Star game!
Honest question
Why do NBA players play so hard in random open gyms in the summer but give no effort in The All Star game with millions watching?
— Hoop Herald (@TheHoopHerald) September 13, 2025
Beverley responded, “Because All-Stars take the game for granted. Not 1 All-Star on the court. Good bump” The 12-year vet, who never did make an All-Star team in his career (though he did make three All-Defensive Teams), was clearly taking a shot at the lackluster effort given by players in the All-Star Game, an issue that Adam Silver is hoping to remedy by changing the format next year.
Beverley’s comment didn’t go unnoticed. Young hopped in to respond, “Relax. Let us speak for ourselves.” So simple, yet so hilarious, as he basically told Beverley to go back to the kids table while the adults (i.e. the All-Stars) are talking.
NBA beefs have been started over much less, so of course Beverley, who spent his entire playing career being on his opponent’s faces, took to his podcast to call Young out. “I don’t think he’s in a position to speak,” he said of Young. “I don’t think he’s won enough to even speak to me like that or tweet me like that.”
Beverley then listed off his playoff appearances compared to Young’s as his cohost nodded along in agreement, saying, “Nine is more than three.” He also said that he’s talked to people who have played on the Hawks and that nobody wants to be there because, “They don’t think he’s a good leader, they don’t think he’s a good teammate.”
The problems with Beverley’s argument are obvious, and so Young jumped at the chance to stick it to him. “A lot of these wins that you say you’ve had, being a winning player in the NBA, a lot of those wins, basically every single one of those wins, you were being carried by an All-Star, if not two at the same time,” he said.
Young has been an All-Star four times in his seven years in the league. He also has more career win shares in those seven years than Beverley had in 12, and he was the best player on a team that made the conference finals. Beverley played in one conference finals also, with the Clippers in 2021. That team also had Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
That season, Beverley was seventh on the Clippers in minutes in both the regular season and postseason. Him attempting to use his team’s success to come at Young, who’s been the face of the Hawks his entire career, would be laughable if he weren’t actually serious about it.
It’s a bit like if Mark Madsen tried to win an argument against Charles Barkley because the Hall of Famer never won a championship but he got two rings for sitting on the bench while Shaq and Kobe did the heavy lifting.
Say what you will about Young’s game, if you subbed him in for Beverley on every team he played for, his teams would have done better, by far. Make Beverley the Hawks’ starting point guard in place of Young and they may not have ever cracked 35 wins.
Young acknowledged that by responding to Beverley, he’s just giving him what he wants: more attention. “I hope you get all the attention, all the love out of this that you wanted,” he said. “But I promise you, this is the last time I’m talking about it. I gotta go get ready for a season, I gotta get ready to try and win a championship.”
Beverley tried to take the low-hanging fruit of calling out the level of play in the All-Star Game, but by doing so, he opened himself up to be roasted. He had a long career, kudos to him, but he was never an impact player like Young is. This one isn’t a fair fight, but Young is right that Beverley is happy just for the attention this will bring.
Young’s Hawks could be in a position to make some noise next year, as they’ve added Kristaps Porzingis and Nickeil Alexander-Walker to a talented young core that already includes Young, Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels and Zac Risacher. With so many depleted teams in the East, he could have the perfect opportunity to shut Beverley up once and for all.
