The Bucks’ Patrick Beverley was suspended four games without pay

Milwaukee Bucks’ Patrick Beverley during the first half of Game 5 of an NBA basketball series against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee Bucks guard Patrick Beverley was suspended by the NBA on Thursday for four games without pay early next season for his actions during and after the final game of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with the Indiana Pacers .

The league announced the suspension, saying Beverley was being punished for “forcibly throwing a basketball at spectators on multiple occasions and having an inappropriate interaction with a reporter during media availability.”

This suspension came a day after Indianapolis police said they were investigating an “NBA player-citizen” altercation that occurred during the May 2 game, without naming anyone.

READ: NBA: Pat Beverley’s fan-reporter interactions aren’t ‘the Bucks way’

Beverley threw a ball at fans in the final minutes of Milwaukee’s 120-98 Game 6 loss to Indiana, which knocked the Bucks out of the playoffs. Cameras showed him sitting on the bench and throwing a ball into the stands with about two and a half minutes left, hitting a fan in the head. After another fan threw the ball back to Beverley, who extended his arm to do so, the Bucks guard fired it back at that spectator.

Beverley spoke about his behavior on an episode of “The Pat Bev Podcast” released Wednesday. He said he had been called a word he had never been called before, but added that his actions were “still inexcusable.”

“I’ll feel better,” he said. “I have to get better, and I will be better. This should never have happened. Regardless of what was said, this should never have happened. As simple as that.”

READ: What the Hell: NBA charges Timberwolves’ Pat Beverley another $30,000

“I’m not going to bring basketball to the bench anymore,” Beverley said. “That… messed up my whole mood.”

After the game, Beverley did not allow ESPN journalist Malinda Adams to ask him a question in a group interview in the locker room. He said it was because she wasn’t subscribed to his podcast. Beverley told her to move her microphone away from his face and eventually asked her to leave the interview circle.

The next day, Adams said on X that she received apologies from both the Bucks and Beverley herself.

On his podcast, Beverley said that he has requested this from reporters who have interviewed him since starting his podcast. Beverley said he told Adams that “it was never my intention to disrespect you.”

A day after the game, Bucks coach Doc Rivers said Beverley’s behavior was “not the Milwaukee way or the Bucks way.”

“We’re better than this,” Rivers said. “Pat feels terrible about this. He also understands emotionally – this is an emotional game and things happen – unfortunately you are judged straight away and he lets the emotions get the best of him.”

The Bucks acquired the 35-year-old Beverley from the Philadelphia 76ers at the trade deadline. Beverley was on a one-year contract, making him an unrestricted free agent for the offseason.