Indianapolis police are investigating the incident where Patrick Beverley threw a basketball into the stands at Pacers fans during the closing minutes of the Bucks’ Game 6 elimination loss at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Detectives are reviewing footage of what happened and plan to speak with the people involved in the May 2 incident, according to a report by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
“The report has been forwarded to IMPD detectives, who are currently investigating this situation and take all accusations seriously,” IMPD told Fox 59 in a statement. “Detectives are working with Gainbridge Fieldhouse to review video footage and plan to speak with the parties involved.”
Charges could be filed once the investigation is wrapped up, and detectives will present the case to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, the department said in its statement.
Beverley was seen throwing a ball into the stands and appearing to hit a female fan in the head, who had been just a few rows back from the Milwaukee bench.
When another fan picked up the ball and tossed it back to Beverley, the Bucks player flung it right back at the fan in anger as teammates stepped in to try and calm Beverley down while police and security converged on the fan near the Milwaukee bench.
Beverley called the incident an “unfortunate situation that should have never happened” during a new episode of “The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone” was released Wednesday.
However, he disputed a report that it was merely a fan saying “Cancun on three” as the Bucks were breaking from a huddle down 114-94 with 2:32 left in the game.
“Let’s just say it was more than that,” Beverley said on the podcast. “I’m not here to shed light on a particular story. I’m not, I’m here to shed light on what I did was absolutely bad. And that shoulda never happened. I have to be better and I will be better. That should have never happened regardless of what was said.”
The Bucks guard insisted that his issue wasn’t with Pacers fans at large and said “it was a little bit more” than the reported Cancun comment.
“I’ve been called a ton of stuff in this league, obviously. I’ve been called a ton of stuff. I haven’t been called that one,” Beverley continued.
The NBAer refused to clarify what the exact word was during the segment of his podcast, though he did indicate that it started during the layup line before the game when the fan called him “something crazy” and claimed security asked him three to four times if Beverley wanted the fan kicked out.
Beverley claimed the same group had been kicked out for touching a Bucks assistant coach.
The TV broadcast did show the group being escorted out by police security.
