Mayor slams this former NBA star over Camden comments
A former NBA player took a shot at Camden residents, but the city’s mayor slapped it down.
The athlete, Patrick Beverley, made an apparent joke over perceived safety problems in Camden in a recent video.
Beverley noted LeBron James, who recently signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, had used a helicopter to travel from his New York City home to the team’s training facility on Camden’s Waterfront.
"Camden is not a — how can I say this while being nice? — Camden is not a place where they’re used to helicopters landing," Beverley said in his YouTube podcast, The PatBev Show.
“Bron. be careful cause Camden isn’t the greatest neighborhood,” said Beverley. “People gonna start throwing rocks at them {expletive] helicopters, so be cool out there.”
Camden Mayor Vic Carstarphen, whose City Hall office is a short distance from helipads at the Sixers facility, Campbell Soup Co., and two hospitals, wasn’t having it.
"Saying our residents would throw rocks at LeBron’s helicopter is disrespectful to the hardworking families who call this city home," the mayor wrote in a Facebook post directed to "Pat Bev."
Officials have noted a continuing decline in crime statistics for Camden, which was considered among the nation’s most dangerous cities with 67 homicides in 2012.
The city saw 12 homicides in 2025, down by 29% from a year earlier and by 82% since 2012, according to a Camden County report. It noted a 2% decrease for total crimes, including declines of 6% for violent crime, 12% for robberies, and 32% for sexual assaults.
Camden is still considered among the state’s most dangerous cities. It’s violent crime rate was 951.1 per 100,000 residents in 2024, compared to 316.1 for all of Camden County, according to New Jersey State Police.
Carstarphen’s Facebook post noted Beverley had practiced at the Camden site as a Sixer in the 2023-24 season.
"I invite you to come back, meet our young people, and see the work our residents are doing to move Camden forward. They deserve that respect," the mayor wrote.
Carstarphen invoked his own basketball credentials to bolster his message.
The mayor, among the top scorers from Camden High School, played in 1986 for a team ranked first in the nation. He went on to be a three-year starter at Temple University.
He urged Beverley, a Chicago native who played for seven NBA teams between 2013 and 2024, to learn more about Camden.
"From one point guard to another, come spend some time with us, brother," Carstarphen wrote to Beverley. "There’s a better Camden story to tell," the mayor said.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Mayor slams this former NBA star over Camden comments
Source: sports.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.