Patrick Beverley detailed how he “Played the Media” to secure his 2017 All-Defensive selection

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Over his 12-year NBA career, Patrick Beverley never played on a championship-winning team or emerged as a serious DPOY contender. But the brightest accolade on his resume is a lone All-Defensive First Team selection, and that honor has become one of the biggest sources of credibility behind the bold claims he makes in the media about being one of the best defensive players in recent NBA history.

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According to Pat Bev, though, earning that recognition was not simply about playing dedicated defense and hoping voters noticed. In fact, he understood that if he did not advocate for himself and put the idea of being an All-Defensive First Team player into the minds of the media and fans, he might never receive the recognition he believed his defensive impact deserved.

That led Beverley to develop his own approach to self-marketing, one that ensured his biggest defensive plays carried a reminder that he belonged among the league’s best defenders.

Pat Bev got his nod in 2017

​During the 2016-17 season, Pat Bev’s 9.5 points per game helped the Houston Rockets to register the second-best offensive rating. But his career-high 1.5 steals per game helped them frame their defensive identity.

​While Bev didn’t lead the Rockets in steals (Trevor Ariza had 1.9 steals per game) that campaign, he was certain that his defensive work deserved greater recognition. And thus, he was instructed on the proper manner in which voters and the media would take notice of those efforts.

Beverley understood that the NBA’s biggest games attracted the largest audiences, giving him an opportunity to make his case in front of more people. So instead of simply letting his defense speak for itself, he decided to make sure his message was impossible to miss.

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“‘How can I put people on notice and get first team?’ My homies say, ‘You got to do it at the All-Star.’ That’s when most people start watching games. Cool. Now we play Damian Lillard and I get a stop. Mind you, I’m yelling First Team. I’m not saying a word,” Pat Bev said on ‘Out The Mud’ podcast while mimicking his gesture. “I play LeBron James on Christmas, get low-swipe. ‘First Motherf–ng Team!’ Now it puts the ju-ju in these media people’s head who have never played the game.”

The self-marketing strategy worked

​Sure, it was an unconventional strategy, but Beverley believed the point was to make sure his name was associated with elite defense every time a voter watched him make a big play. Bev eventually got the recognition he wanted, earning an All-Defensive First Team selection in 2017. And the numbers from that season make the results particularly interesting when compared with some of the other defenders who received recognition.

Tony Allen and Danny Green both finished the season with better defensive ratings than Beverley. Allen posted a 105 defensive rating, while Danny Green recorded a 104 mark. Bev, meanwhile, finished at 108. Yet Allen and Green were selected to the All-Defensive Second Team, while Beverley made the First Team.

There were obviously multiple factors involved in All-Defensive voting, and defensive rating alone does not capture the entire picture, but Bev’s larger point about making sure his defensive impact was seen by the media may give the new generation a new idea on how to constantly self-market themselves.

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This story was originally published September 20, 2026 at 7:18 AM.