NBA Playoffs 2020: 5 reasons the Los Angeles Clippers can win it all

2. Patrick Beverly and company

Patrick Beverly will turn 31 in July — but he looks older. He is also a major pest who enjoys the art of pestering.

While Beverly may not necessarily be the team’s best defender, he embodies the grittiness a good defensive team needs, and the Clippers are a top-five defensive team in the league. Ahead of them are the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, and Boston Celtics. However, unlike those other teams, the Clippers defense stands a better chance of improving in the postseason.

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both missed significant stretches of the season. Having them side by side and healthy is akin to having Woody and Buzz patched up and together for the final rescue mission. It’s like having two protagonists who do not mind locking down opponents and sacrificing. Having just watched The Last Dance, one can’t help noticing how the defensive lineup of Leonard, George, Beverly, and Harrell potentially echoes that of Jordan, Pippen, Harper, and Rodman. The documentary largely sold Harper’s efforts for the Chicago Bulls’ second three-peat short, but he and Rodman gave the Bulls defense a great deal of cumulative intelligence and flexibility. No matter who the other team’s best scorer was, the Bulls could often stymie it. There were no easy baskets against that team in the postseason, and the Clippers have that kind of potential.

The luxury of having Patrick Beverly is that neither Leonard or George will ever have to spend an entire evening chasing and hounding another team’s primary option. They can carry that weight as needed and in spells. So, while the narrative will eventually gravitate around Kawhi Leonard, the effort is truly that of an ensemble with every Clipper capable of being that guy on a given night, for a quarter, on that one play where they have to get a stop.

And just in case it’s not clear here is a final statement on the matter: Patrick Beverly is a parasite. Also, I mean that as a compliment. I mean that in the way that the best part of any Disney venture is the villain and his or her henchmen. Beverly is an eel under the sea, a hyena in the savannah, a parrot on the shoulders of Arabia. He is a goddamn genius of mixing will and bitterness. He isn’t so much Captain Hook as the jolly croc who so enjoyed the taste of flesh and bone that he gave up all else the world has to offer. Tic-tock. Tic-tock. Patrick effing Beverly.