Sixers’ Patrick Beverley talks preseason ejection and Ben Simmons

Philadelphia 76ers’ guard Patrick Beverley had his night ended early on Monday when he was ejected from the Sixers’ preseason win over the Brooklyn Nets.

Beverley took to his podcast, the Pat Bev Pod, to discuss what exactly went down between himself and former Sixer Ben Simmons that led to the ejection.

Beverley was booted from the Sixers’ bench early in the fourth quarter after jawing at Simmons from the sideline, but he was quick to point out it was not a problem with Simmons’ game.

“First off, Ben Simmons is a hell of a talent. It’s good seeing him back out there. He looks strong. He impacted the game. So when it comes to basketball, I don’t have a problem with him.”

It instead stemmed from Simmons starting his own beef with Sixers’ 23-year-old Filip Petrusev.

Petrusev opened the fourth quarter hitting a nice three, and Beverley was excited for the youngster.

A few moments later, however, Simmons laid a foul on Petrusev that sent him to the floor. The two got into it a bit, resulting in a double-technical. Beverley took issue with the entire situation of Simmons, a league veteran, chirping at and roughly fouling Petrusev. He even admitted that he was trying to redirect Simmons’ attention to himself, to no avail.

“When it comes to, like, he was chirping at one of my rookies. Like, c’mon. Filip with an F. You know what I’m saying? You chirping at that guy. You foul him hard as fuck. I’m talking to you all game, you ain’t saying nothing. Tobias [Harris] cooking your ass, you really ain’t saying nothing. You got eight turnovers. Talk to me. I’ve been talking to you all game anyway. Talk to me.”

And so, Beverley started in on Simmons from the sideline, earning his second technical of the game and being promptly ejected, for sticking up for the young gun. (His first technical came earlier in the game during a dead ball moment when Beverley tried to smack the ball out of Nic Claxton’s hands.)

Petrusev told NBC Sports Philadelphia after the Sixers’ Tuesday practice that he appreciated seeing the veteran hype him up and stand up for him in that way.

“He’s got my back there,” Petrušev said. “Not just there, in practice, too. And not just for me, but for everybody. He’s bringing crazy energy and he’s there for everybody, supports everybody.

“After that three, I felt he had my back and he was supporting me, so that gave me confidence. And in that particular situation, just stood for me like a real vet. Thanks to him.”

Honestly, standing up for the little guy (the little guy being 6-foot-11 in this case, but I digress) is not a bad way to adorn yourself to the Philadelphia fanbase — if everyone wasn’t too busy watching the Phillies on Monday, that is.

Beverley, Petrusev and the Sixers will wrap up their preseason campaign on Friday at the Wells Fargo Center against the Atlanta Hawks.