Patrick Beverley
© Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
As with every major sporting league, the NBA has gone through several phases or eras that have seen specific playstyles become more popular than others. Right now, the modern era of basketball has placed a higher importance on three-point shooting, and as a result, scoring it way up all across the league.
Beverley speaks on the current state of basketball in the NBA
Patrick Beverley has never been the greatest scorer, but he’s been in the NBA since 2012, so he knows firsthand about the different eras that come and go through the league. Beverley has witnessed shooting from behind the arc become increasingly important during his time in the league, and while three-point shooting isn’t his forte, Beverley knows good offense when he sees it, considering how he is one of the league’s premier perimeter defenders. .
Scroll to Continue
For Beverley personally, it hasn’t been a great season for scoring, as his six points per game are currently on pace to be the lowest of his career since his rookie campaign. But Beverley sees that scoring is way up across the league this season, and while some folks have criticized the level of play across the league, Beverley believes that some of the best basketball in the history of the NBA is being played right now.
“The NBA is getting more competitive and skilled and better and better…You gotta think, this is some of the best basketball ever played, like collectively. You are talking about 70 here, you are talking about 50 here. You are talking about a 38-year-old scoring 40 here. You are talking about 60 (point) triple-double. You know, you’re talking about 50 like, they gotta think it’s some of the best basketball players that’s been ever played.” – Patrick Beverley, The Pat Bev Podcast With Rone
Is this the best era of basketball the NBA has ever seen?
Beverley is right in saying that there are some incredibly skilled players in the league right now, particularly in scoring the basketball. As Beverley references, we have already seen several ridiculous individual performances this season, but it’s also worth noting that there are five players currently averaging over 30 points per game right now, as well as three more scoring above 29 points per game.
For reference, Joel Embiid was the only player to average over 30.6 points per game last season, with Giannis Antetokounmpo being the only other player to score over 29. But this season, scoring has gone soaring through the roof. Some fans believe it’s a byproduct of players becoming collectively lazier on defense, but Beverley thinks the level of talent in the NBA is higher than it’s ever been.
It doesn’t seem like the high-scoring level will slow down anytime soon, but it’s resulted in some wildly entertaining basketball, so who are we as fans to look too much into the scoring? Beverley has been blown away by the level of basketball this season, and while it’s tough to compare eras, you also cannot deny that there are a lot of skilled players in the league. So maybe, Beverley’s comments here do have a little bit of truth to them.
.