Milwaukee Bucks star and Barstool Sports podcast host Patrick Beverley has found himself at the center of controversy after his actions during and after the Bucks’ Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night. It now turns out that Beverley’s actions may have even more repercussions on his future in media.
Beverley has always been known to play with a chip on his shoulder on the court and toe the line of going overboard with his emotions. This was unfortunately the case on multiple occasions on Thursday night.
First was his decision to hurl a ball at an unsuspecting Pacers fan with under three minutes to go in the game after the fan allegedly mocked him and the Bucks by shouting “Cancún…Cancún on 3.”
Things only got worse after the game, as Beverley refused an interview with ESPN producer Malinda Adams because she “didn’t subscribe to his podcast”, an act that Adams has since said Beverley has apologized to her for.
Beverley has received a ton of flak for his arrogant response to Adams’ question in the heat of the moment, including from ESPN personalities Brian Windhorst and Stephen A. Smith.
Beverley has been a guest on ESPN studio shows like First Take and Get Up, particularly making a number of appearances there during the 2022 NBA playoffs and drawing profiles on if a regular media role might be ahead for him. He also appeared on a Kevin Hart-hosted alternate broadcast in December and created a controversy there. Future ESPN guest spots for him appear to be in question after conflicting reports emerged about his future on studio shows with the company moving forward.
According to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, ESPN management has reportedly banned Beverley from future guest appearances on studio shows after this incident.
BREAKING : Patrick Beverley Banned From Future Guest Appearances on ESPN Shows, @FOS has learned. Read my new 'Tuned In' Column.https://t.co/VOqO4xQf4a
— Michael McCarthy (@MMcCarthyREV) May 3, 2024
However, Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal refuted McCarthy’s report on social media, saying that he has heard from a “source close to the situation” that Beverley is not being banned from ESPN airwaves.
Source close to the situation actually tells me @patbev21 NOT being banned from ESPN airwaves. https://t.co/Q4NHsMoZJP
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) May 3, 2024
Perhaps, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, where Beverley is persona non grata for the moment but the door is open for him to make amends and return as a guest eventually. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand alluded to this in his report on the situation, saying that the word “banned” may not be correct, but that Beverley likely won’t serve as an ESPN analyst anytime soon. And interestingly, he added that ESPN has “long decided” that Beverley won’t serve in that role for them, suggesting this happened before this moment.
Ruling: If we are being fair, I'm going NOT banned from my sources, though I don't think he will be an analyst on ESPN anytime soon. That was long decided.
Banned is not the right word. https://t.co/uds7GcxSEO
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) May 3, 2024
Despite both Marchand and Karp outwardly correcting McCarthy’s report, McCarthy remained adamant that Beverley is indeed banned from appearing on ESPN programming.
“Report is accurate,” wrote McCarthy on Twitter/X in response to Marchand. “If ESPN is saying otherwise now, that’s back-pedaling.”
“So when’s the next time PatBev will be a guest analyst on First Take?” wrote McCarthy in response to Karp. “Or Get Up?
Regardless, Beverley does have an audience to fall back on outside of ESPN with his Barstool Sports-backed podcast, The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone. Beverley and Adam Ferrone have developed a pretty large fanbase for the podcast, particularly on YouTube, where the show has over 260,000 subscribers.
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.