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What goes around, comes around. Just a few days after the Chicago Bulls' Patrick Beverley mocked LeBron James with a "too small" gesture, he was the recipient of one of his own.
When the Bulls beat the Lakers this past Sunday, James made an unexpected comeback from a foot tendon injury, only for Beverley, his former Lakers teammate, to put up 2 points against him.
Showing little remorse for leaving the Lakers, the 6-foot-2 Beverley brought out a "too small to guard him" gesture at the feet of James, who is 6-9.
The Lakers are pushing hard for the playoffs with a run that could see a pretty nondescript season become a notable one, but only if they win most of their remaining games, of which four out of five are on the road.
AUSTIN REAVES “TOO SMALL” ON PAT BEV pic.twitter.com/aBq2zL98J7
— pickuphoop (@pickuphoop) March 30, 2023
Beverley made it public that he would like nothing more than to put a stop to the Lakers' postseason ambitions, but that came unstuck on Wednesday night when the Lakers came to Chicago and beat the Bulls 121-110.
The Lakers' Austin Reaves, who played with Beverley when he was on the team, exacted some revenge for James when he scored a basket against Beverley in the closing stages of the game. He then hit him with the too small gesture.
Lakers fans loved that Beverley was being mocked back, and they took to social media to target him after he failed to post a single point against the Lakers after scoring 10 against them on Sunday night.
Commenting on a TikTok video of highlights showing the battle between Beverley and the Lakers, one user wrote: "35 minutes with 0 points is crazy."
Another joked: "Pat Bev had a 35 minute cardio sesh." A third called out to Beverley: "Bev sit yo a** down."
A fourth joked about Beverley having a workout session, writing: "Bro was doing cardio all game didn't even get a bucket."
Speaking after the game, Reaves said that it was a spur of the moment decision to pull out the "too small" gesture on Beverley and that he had respect for his former teammate.
He told reporters: "He did it the last time we played, to LeBron. It wasn't something I was thinking of doing all game but it felt the right time, right situation, and we have a good relationship, and I respect him."
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