LOS ANGELES (USA) - Patrick Beverley has unfinished business in his career. He still wants to play for the USA.
The guard with more than a decade of NBA experience wants to be a part of the national team setup again, just as he was in 2007 as the leading player for the team that reached the FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup Final in Serbia.
Beverley, who wore No. 7, had impressive numbers. His 27.6 minutes, 13.0 points, 3.2 assists and 3.4 steals per game were all team highs, and he was second on the USA in rebounding (5.3 per game).
"It was me, Mike Beasley, DeAndre Jordan, Jonny Flynn, Steph Curry, David Lighty," he said on The Pat Bev Podcast with Rone.
"We beat a team called France. On the team was Nicolas Batum, Alexis Ajinca, I mean guys who played in the NBA. We was also in Serbia, got silver."
Batum had 12 points and 10 rebounds but Beverley poured in 15 points to help the USA beat the French in the Semi-Finals, 87-82.
Having contributed 11 points and 9 rebounds earlier in the tournament to help the USA win 82-78 over Serbia, Beverley's 15 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals weren't enough in the Final.
Serbia won that title game, 74-69.
Beverley says he craved for more of the USA experience ever since.
I was waiting for years to even be invited to Vegas to play for the national team
"I was waiting for years to even be invited to Vegas to play for the national team," he said. "I was the leading scorer. I was second in points, I was second in rebounds. I was first in assists, I was first in steals ... I was the best player on the team."
Beverley, who played in Ukraine, Greece and Russia before joining the Houston Rockets in 2013, says he would have even been happy to suit up for the USA Select team that helps the USA prepare for FIBA Basketball World Cups and Olympics.
"I know when I come back to the NBA, I'm going get an invite somewhere," he remembers thinking at the time. "Not even try to make the team, just be on a small team that's being competitive for the big team. No invite."
If Beverley never again wears the USA shirt, he can at least cherish the memory of the time in Serbia.
And he can also take some satisfaction from the fact that for a decade, he was an uncompromising, hardworking guard in the best league in the world, the NBA, a player that never backed down against any opponent.
Beverley was named to the NBA All Defensive First Team in 2017 in his final season with Houston. Once with the Rockets, and once with his next team, the LA Clippers, he was All Defensive Second Team.
FIBA