Wave After Beverley Ejection; Technical on Westbrook

On December 19, 2019, the Los Angeles Clippers hosted the Houston Rockets at Staples Center. With 2:52 remaining in the fourth quarter, Clippers guard Patrick Beverley received his second technical foul and was ejected from the game. As Beverley walked toward the tunnel, Rockets guard Russell Westbrook waved him off in a visible taunt. The Associated Press game report, carried by KSAT, summarized the sequence: “Clippers guard Patrick Beverley ... was ejected with 2:52 remaining after receiving his second technical. Westbrook was also given a technical for taunting Beverley as he left the floor” [6]. The gesture distilled the animus that had built since the 2013 collision and had recently been re-energized by Westbrook’s November 13, 2019 postgame comments that “Pat Bev trick y’all ... He don’t guard nobody” [1]. Occurring just over a month later and again involving formal technical fouls, the December incident turned the roiling back-and-forth into a cinematic exit and wave, instantly clipped for highlight shows and social feeds. No additional suspensions or fines are cited in the AP summary, but the officiating decisions—second technical on Beverley for ejection, technical on Westbrook for taunting—reflected an active posture by referees to manage a combustible matchup tied to years of history [6].

This moment captured the feud’s 2019 arc in a single image: Beverley ejected, Westbrook waving, and the officials penalizing the taunt [6]. It followed closely on the heels of Westbrook’s pointed “trick y’all” critique, linking talk and theater into one sequence [1]. The incident also demonstrated how their rivalry influenced in-game behavior late in competitive contests, requiring referees to sanction not only contact but also taunting. As part of the larger narrative, it served as the punctuation mark on a calendar year that included a 2018 flagrant, a 2019 viral quote, and, finally, a taunt technical after an ejection [5][1][6].

In the immediate term, the game moved on with Beverley in the locker room and Westbrook carrying a technical tally for the taunt [6]. The 2019 wave added to the library of viral moments that media and fans referenced whenever the pair met again. The following years extended the dialogue onto social media: on February 10, 2022, Beverley echoed Westbrook’s 2019 phrasing with a tweet labeling Westbrook “The Real Magician this year,” a direct callback to “trick y’all” [7]. Later in 2022, the narrative pivoted when they became Lakers teammates, and Beverley publicly praised Westbrook at media day, suggesting a professional reset that stood in contrast to the 2019 ejection-and-wave tableau [8].