‘Weak motherf—–r’: This is the target Lonzo Ball faces all season

The Clippers point guard had been tweeting about shutting down the No. 2 pick over a month ago. He was outside the Lakers locker room screaming curses at the rookie.

“Weak ass motherf—–r. Bring his ass out on the court with me and I will tear his ass up,” Beverley shouted, according to The Undefeated.

And that’s exactly what happened in the Clippers’ 108-92 win, with Ball limited to 3 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists on 1-of-6 shooting.

“I told him, due to all the riff-raff his dad brings, he’s going to get a lot of people coming at him and he has to be ready for that,” Beverley told Sports Illustrated. “He has to perform on a stage like this every night. It’s not only going to be me. It’s going to be a lot of people trying to go at his head.”

Beverley, who was traded from the Rockets to the Clippers this offseason, is an extreme and in a way could not have been a worse matchup for Ball in his debut. He played in Ukraine, Greece and Russia before sticking with the Rockets in 2013 and becoming one of the top defensive guards in the league. Beverley lives with the chip on his shoulder and thrives on it.

But he will not be alone in his determination to shut up Lonzo’s father, LaVar, even as Lonzo has quietly impressed teammates with his mild manner. LaVar, as if to prove Beverley’s point, was there mid-court after the game being interviewed by ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. 

“Yeah, you shut the m—–f—– down,” LaVar said. “And your check still ain’t going to go no higher than what it is. Yeah, you shut him down. OK … Who is Patrick Beverley?

“He played all last year and nobody said nothing about him. Now we are looking at your first game. Why? Because Lonzo’s name is attached to it … So you got to be [all hard]. Let’s see what you do the next five games, if you are going to be pumped up towards everybody like that and go back to your 0-for-5 shooting and your two or three rebounds. Nobody is going to care about you. But you put my son’s name in it and you put my name in it, now you got some action and you got some people talking.”

LaVar should worry less about Beverley’s intensity, which will remain intact for all Clippers 82 games, and that of Lonzo’s matchup night in and night out.

But Lonzo said he understands the challenge and is ready to embrace it.

“I’ll be ready,” Ball told The Vertical. “I have to show it in my game, because when we win, people won’t talk. But if we lose, people will think it affects me. It’s wins and losses for me. We know it’s a process.”