Does Patrick Beverley deserve more credit?
The Minnesota Timberwolves made the playoffs just once from 2004 to 2021.
Led by Jimmy Butler, the 2017-18 squad made the playoffs, defeating the Denver Nuggets in overtime in Game 82 to secure their spot, but lost in the first round to the Houston Rockets.
They would miss the playoffs for three straight seasons following their trip in 2018.
It wasn’t until 2022 that they would return, winning the Play-In game against the Los Angeles Clippers to secure the seventh seed in the playoffs.
Fans may or may not remember Minnesota’s 109-104 victory over the Clippers, but what can’t be forgotten was how Patrick Beverley celebrated after the victory, jumping on the table and taking his jersey off, acting as if he had just won a championship and not a Play-In game.
Patrick Beverley Speaks
On the Thanalysis Show with Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Beverley took credit for shifting the culture in Minnesota.
“I really put on for the city of Minnesota, and I don’t know if people know this, but they haven’t missed the playoffs since I got there… I’m not saying it’s all me, but I started something in Minnesota for sure,” he said.
The Timberwolves have not missed the playoffs since Beverley’s infamous celebration, though he was on the team for only that one season in 2021-22.
They made the Western Conference Finals in 2024 and 2025, and though they only won one game in each trip, it showed how far they have come and the consistency they have established.
Is Beverley Right?
He deserves credit for being part of the team that first made the playoffs, and fans may never know the kind of culture he established behind the scenes.
He was the veteran on that team with the most NBA and playoff success of any player who was on the roster. Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels were in their second seasons, Naz Reid was in his third, and Karl-Anthony Towns was in his sixth, but wasn’t viewed as a leader on that level.
Beverley was in his tenth season, had been to the playoffs seven times, and was part of a Clippers team that had made the Conference Finals the year before.
Chances are, he had a big impact on the team that most fans will never understand until more and more stories start to come out. Who knows how much Edwards took from Beverley in that season to help further establish and continue the culture that fans see today and that has led to consistent success.
