Milwaukee Bucks star and Barstool Sports podcast host Patrick Beverley has found himself in hot water after an incident with ESPN producer Malinda Adams after the Bucks’ Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. But despite all the complaints from quite a few media members about Beverley’s behavior, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy appears adamant to defend him.
Beverley refused to participate in an interview with Adams after the game on Thursday. He reasoned that she couldn’t ask him questions because she “doesn’t subscribe to his podcast.”
The incident promptly led to conflicting reports on Friday that Beverley may be banned from appearing on ESPN programming, or at the very least won’t be appearing on the network for quite some time.
At the very least, he will seemingly have his Barstool-backed podcast, The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone, for the foreseeable future.
Dave Portnoy took to social media amidst the drama surrounding Beverley, proclaiming that the NBA star will “always have a home at Barstool Sports”, taking a not-so-subtle jab at ESPN in the process.
“Patrick Beverley and his irreverent style is always welcome all on the Barstool Sports network. We don’t believe in censorship at Barstool.”
Patrick Beverley and his irreverent style is always welcome all on the Barstool Sports network. We don't believe in censorship at Barstool https://t.co/TmEnIdupY1
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) May 3, 2024
That’s somewhat ironic since Beverley was the one in this instance who “censored” ESPN and Malinda Adams by choosing not to answer questions from her.
Regardless, the statement shows that he views Beverley and his charismatic personality as a benefit to Barstool Sports instead of a potential liability.
Say what you will about him and the situation but Beverley has proven capable of building an audience through his podcast. The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone YouTube page has over 260,000 subscribers.
It just so happened that Malinda Adams was not one of them.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.