Alfonzo McKinnie with unique perspective on Kevin Durant-Patrick Beverley ejection

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OAKLAND – The Warriors’ role player may not be the most qualified player to give advice to Kevin Durant on how to play basketball. But Warriors reserve forward Alfonzo McKinnie is uniquely qualified to give advice to Durant on how to handle Patrick Beverley’s antics.

Although they are four years removed, McKinnie and Beverley attended the same high school in Chicago (Marshall Metropolitan). Through informal offseason workouts and unspecified urban legends passed along in his hometown, McKinnie has a window on how the Clippers’ guard plays with what McKinnie called as “that grit.” Because of that quality, Durant and Beverley both collected a pair of double technicals and a subsequent ejection in the Warriors’ Game 1 win over the Clippers on Saturday.

Durant apologized for his ejection following morning shootaround on Monday. But how Durant avoid the same outcome when the Warriors play the Clippers in Game 2 of their first-round series on Monday at Oracle Arena?

“You just have to look at the big picture,” McKinnie said. “You don’t want too many techs and stuff like that. It’s really just a mindset. You have to really lock in on not trying to fall for the bait.”

In fairness, Durant also has familiarity playing against Beverley since Durant’s University of Texas’ team played Beverley’s University of Arksansas’ squad about 12 years ago. Though Warriors coach Steve Kerr raised concerns about Durant being five technicals away from a one-game suspension during the postseason, McKinnie understood two things. He conceded it “is easier said than done” to “just not let Pat get under his skin.” McKinnie also argued Durant’s ejection in 4:41 remaining in the game had some short-term and long-term benefits.

“Even though Kevin got ejected and all that, it was a momentum swing for us because everybody was hyped after it,” McKinnie said. “Everybody came out and felt like we had to compete harder once Kevin left.”

Throughout the game, Beverley tried various tactics both to defend and irritate Durant. The first approach did not work well. Durant still had 23 points while going 8-of-16 from the field along with three assists. The second approach yielded mixed results.

Beverley often fronted Durant in the post by either pushing him with his hips or locking his arms. After Durant drew a foul on a double team, Beverley flailed his arms mockingly to imitate Durant’s supposed flop. On the subsequent inbounds pass, Beverley gave little space to Durant.

Beverley also fouled Durant from behind after missing a drive to the basket. Then, the two exchanged words before Durant clapped at him. Durant and Beverley drew a double technical for that incident with 4:41 left in the game. About 19 seconds later, Beverley bobbled a pass near halfcourt. Then, Durant knocked Beverley out-of-bounds with his hips. After Beverley fell, Durant towered over him and taunted. As soon as Beverley stood up, both players were tossed from the game with another pair of technicals.

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During those moments, Durant never appeared angry. Instead, he looked amused.

“You see him smiling after every altercation,” McKinnie said. “It’s nothing personal. It’s just people competing.”

Is it also Beverley being annoying?

“Nah,” McKinnie said. “I’m not going to say he’s annoying.”

Instead, McKinnie is going to say that Beverely “definitely plays tough and plays “super hard.”

“He’s not scared to guard anybody,” McKinnie said of Beverley. “He started the series guarding Kevin. That’s the type of player he is. Tough, hard nosed and has a lot of hear. He plays with a lot of emotions on the court.”

McKinnie does not have many specific on-court moments against Beverley this season and during off-season scrimmages and training sessions in recent years. At least ones he will share. But McKinnie is well aware of Beverley’s background.

“I tell a lot of people that he’s been doing that for years,” McKinnie said. “That’s what he was taught. Me coming up in that same program, that’s just the things they taught us. I’m just not as wild as him.”

McKinnie may not have fully emulated Beverley’s playing style. He grew up admiring Beverley’s journey, though.

During his senior year at Marshall Metropolitan, Beverley became Illinois’ co-player of the year after averaging a state-leading 37.3 points per game. Following a two-year stint at University of Arkansas that yielded SEC Freshman of the Year (2006-07) and Wooden Award consideration (2007-08), Beverley played overseas in Ukraine (2008-09). Though the Los Angeles Lakers selected Beverley No. 42 overall in the 2009 NBA Draft, he still played overseas in Greece (2009-10) and Russia (2012-13) until the Houston Rockets signed him.

Meanwhile, McKinnie starred at Marshall Metropolitan, Eastern Illinois (2010-12) and Wisconsin-Green Bay (2013-15) before going undrafted. He then played overseas in Luxembourg and Mexico before appearing in the G-League in Chicago and Toronto. The Warriors then signed McKinnie to a training camp contract this season and became impressed immediately with his athleticism, defense and outside shooting potential.

During his own journey, McKinnie credited Beverley for being “very supportive.” Beverley often told McKnnie to “just go hard” and “don’t regret anything.”

“He’s one of those guys that kids look up to because he came from where we were at and he made it to where kids like myself wanted to be,” McKinnie said. “He is one of those guys that Chicago kids look up to. You see him now, it motivates them.”

That also gives McKinnie a lens into Beverley’s mindset, which helps him him understand the challenge Durant faces.

“People talk smack all the time. It’s constant, it’s constant it’s constant,” McKinnie said of Beverley’s approach. “You don’t want to say something back. But it’s hard not to say something back.”

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