Bucks' Beverley suspended 4 games for throwing ball at spectators, inappropriate reporter interaction

Milwaukee Bucks guard Patrick Beverley was suspended by the NBA on Thursday for four games without pay to begin next season for his actions during and after the final game of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with the Indiana Pacers.

The league announced the suspension and said Beverley was getting punished for "forcefully throwing a basketball multiple times at spectators and an inappropriate interaction with a reporter during media availability."

This suspension was handed down one day after Indianapolis police said they were investigating an "NBA player and citizen" altercation that happened during that May 2 game without mentioning anyone by name.

Beverley threw a ball at fans in the closing minutes of Milwaukee's 120-98 Game 6 loss at Indiana that knocked the Bucks out of the playoffs. Cameras showed him sitting on the bench and tossing a ball into the stands, hitting a fan in the head with about two and a half minutes left. After a different fan threw the ball back to Beverley, who was holding his arm out for it, the Bucks guard fired it back at that spectator.

Patrick Beverley threw the ball at a fan near the end of the Bucks' Game 6 loss vs. the Pacers.<a href="https://t.co/ccwEq3LZhF">pic.twitter.com/ccwEq3LZhF</a>

Beverley spoke about his behaviour on an episode of "The Pat Bev Podcast" that was released Wednesday. He said he was called a word that he'd never been called before, but added that his actions were "still inexcusable."

"I will be better," he said. "I have to be better, and I will be better. That should have never happened. Regardless of what was said, that should have never happened. Simple as that."

Beverley added the atmosphere in Indiana "was great" aside from "a handful of fans"