Patrick Beverley says 'I have to be better' after launching ball at fan in stands twice during loss

Patrick Beverley plays with an edge. That's what makes him effective on the court and a fan favorite off it.

However, Beverley's edge took him over the line Thursday night as the Pacers eliminated his Bucks from the playoffs. Late in the fourth quarter, when the game was over, he fired a ball into the stands and hit a woman in the head with it, another Pacers fan — who reportedly had been engaging with Beverley and the Bucks bench — stood up and tossed the ball back to him and said something, then Beverley fired the ball at that fan.

Jae Crowder steps in at this point and tries to calm Beverley down. Security goes over and talks to the fan, and he may have been removed from the arena.

Beverley refused to discuss the incident in his postgame interviews, telling reporters "Don't worry about that."

Later that night, Beverley responded on X to the video, first trying to deflect blame.

About six hours after that, Beverley posted this.

This wasn't Beverley's only controversy of the night. During a postgame interview scrum at his locker, Beverley told ESPN's Malinda Adams she could not ask him a question because she doesn't subscribe to his podcast, he pushed her mic away at one point and asked her to leave. Apparently, this is nothing new.

All of it is a lack of maturity and composure from the 35-year-old Beverley, and he is going to face punishment from the league for this, likely a suspension but possibly a fine. There is no question this deserves a suspension (at the start of next season) — the league understandably takes serious issue with players throwing things at fans — but with the NBA's fine/suspension policy being as predictable as a roulette wheel, who knows what might come down.

Beverley is an unrestricted free agent this summer.