LOS ANGELES _ His voice became solemn and his eyes were cast downward as Patrick Beverley began to talk about the injury to Los Angeles Clippers teammate and friend Milos Teodosic.
His face registered a pained look and he was shaking his head as Beverley shared his feelings after learning that Teodosic will be out indefinitely with a plantar fascia injury to his left foot.
Before he answered the first question about Teodosic, Beverley paused to gather his thoughts.
"Aw man. I mean, that's tough," Beverley, who was standing with his back against a wall, said. "It forces everyone else to make that extra pass, make that extra play for your next teammate. I mean, it's no secret about it: he's the best playmaker we have on the team. He's a pass-first guy. It's great playing with him.
"So losing him is real tough. Not just from a teammate standpoint of course, but just as a friend. I know how hard he works and how hard he wants to compete and how hard he wanted to prove himself on this level and how much as a friend that you want to see him be successful. That goes in a lot of factors, especially for me."
When the injury occurred just before halftime Saturday night at Staples Center against Phoenix, Beverley said he was one of the first to check on Teodosic while he was getting his X-rays.
When Teodosic was to return home after Monday's practice, Beverley said he planned on spending time with Teodosic.
"You need that support from your teammates," Beverley said. "You find yourself, especially for him, you find yourself over here (in America) and you're not playing and you kind of find yourself alone over here. You don't want to have that type of nonsense."
Teodosic, 30, joined the Clippers this season after spending the last 10 years playing in Europe, finally reaching the goal of showcasing his point-guard skills in the NBA.
But two games into his career in the NBA, he is out for a while. The Clippers won't give a time frame for his return.
Several retired NBA players who have had the injury said it typically takes almost two months to recover from that sort of injury.
"Yeah, it's indefinite," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "It's just one of those injuries that's going to take some time and we just got to make sure we manage it right because that's really important for us."
Beverley and Teodosic have a longstanding relationship from the time the two were teammates playing for Olympiacos in Greece during the 2009-10 season.
So it was not a surprise for Beverley to see how upbeat Teodosic was at the team's practice facility in Playa Vista despite his situation.
"You know Milos, a super guy regardless of what's going on," Beverley said. "But losing him is real tough.
"Of course you cannot replace his playmaking abilities. You cannot replace his ability to make everyone around him better. It's just now other people got to step up and we have to do more as a unit."
Presumably, the Clippers veteran three-guard lineup of Beverley, Austin Rivers and Lou Williams will see their playing time increase for the immediate future while Teodosic goes through his rehabilitation.
Rookie guards Sindarius Thornwell and Jawun Evans may be thrown into action to help keep Beverley, Rivers and Williams from wearing down from the extra workload.
And that probably will start Tuesday night when the Clippers play the Utah Jazz at Staples Center.
"I think it puts more pressure on our team," Beverley said. "If you look at how our team was made up, whoever gets it off the rebound pushes it. But am I going to say that he will be missed. Of course. Hell, yeah. It's like I said, he's one of our best playmakers on the basketball court.
"Do other people have to step up, including myself? Of course. That's how this game goes. He's our starting point guard. So, everyone has to step up and that's everybody. That's the rookies. That's Jawun. That's Sindarius. That's myself. That's Austin. That's Blake (Griffin). That's (Danilo) Gallinari. Everyone has to kind of try to fill the void of playmaking. The way this team is made up, I think we're good."
