LOS ANGELES — Wearing a sly smile and an Ivica Zubac jersey over his cream sweatshirt that draped well past his waist, Patrick Beverley walked to his sideline seat Thursday inside Crypto.com Arena.
The smile was the face of a man who’d pulled a surprise. Beverley said he had not told his former Los Angeles Clippers teammates that he would be in attendance, one night after his Minnesota Timberwolves played their final game before the NBA’s All-Star break. The jersey reflected a bond that began three years earlier between the fiery Chicago guard and a 7-footer from a small town on the Croatia-Bosnia & Herzegovina border.
As he did when he wore a Clippers jersey, and shorts, too, Beverley quickly drew attention. When Zubac scored on a deft turnaround on the opening possession, Beverley shot out of his chair and clapped while looking like a proud older brother. Clippers guard Reggie Jackson chatted up his former teammate during the earliest breaks in play. Team owner Steve Ballmer, who earlier this month shared a Timberwolves tweet asking for retweets “if you love @patbev21,” drifted over for a conversation between the first and second quarters.
