Patrick Beverley’s grandfather, Rheese Morris, died on Sunday, hours before Beverley played Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs. It was an emotional, inspirational performance from Beverley, who was seen crying before the game and lifted his hands up to the sky after knocking down his first three-pointer.
Patrick Beverley emotionally remembers his late grandfather after playing Game 4
Beverley learned of his grandfather’s death hours before playing in Game 4, and talked about it after.
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
After the game, Beverley spoke to reporters at the podium, stopping a couple times to hold back tears and touchingly describing his relationship with his grandfather, who helped raise him and “wore (his) jerseys every single day,” even when Beverley played overseas in Russia to begin his career.
My family members, my first cousins, all my family home in Chicago, everybody wanted me to play tonight, I was going to try to get on the next flight to Chicago. I’m really a strong guy. I can deal with a lot of things, but I can’t deal with anybody suffering. He suffered but he’s in a better place now. [long pause] And I try to go out there and play as hard as I could for my teammates tonight. It’s just tough, man, I have to be there for my grandmother. That’s the only man she knew for the last 26 years. I have to be there for my mom, I have to be there for my cousins back home in Chicago. It’s just tough man, it’s just tough. Everybody knows I work so extremely hard to prove myself each and every night, and to have somebody that was right there supporting me the whole way, wore my jerseys every single day of my life, wore my Russian jerseys every single day of my life, man. To have a person like that taken from you is hard, so hard. It’s a bigger plan and I’m going to keep my faith and be there for my family. Anyone who passed, grandparents, mothers, whatever, to have them taken away from you is super hard.
Beverley is a leader in the Rockets locker room, someone who goes out of his way to chat with people he doesn’t even know. He paved his own way into the NBA, a route that took him overseas for his first several seasons out of college, and has been one of the longest-standing players in Houston along with James Harden. It’s tough to see him struggling like this, both because it triggers our sympathy for him and because we know everyone will experience intense pain and loss like this sooner or later. Most don’t have to project their pain to the world, but Beverley chose to play Game 4 and chose to participate in the postgame press conference, showing unbelievable strength.
Beverley’s presence did help the Rockets earn the Game 4 win, too, with the Rockets taking a 125-104 victory to tie the series at two games each. His status going forwards will likely be known in the coming days, but the important thing is that he joins his family in Chicago where they need him ... and he needs them. Our heart goes out to him and his family.
