Loyalty is a virtue that is becoming increasingly rare in today’s NBA. Big stars like LeBron James, James Harden, and Kevin Durant are just some of the biggest examples there are of franchise guys leaving their team for greener pastures.
On the other side are guys like Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal, who have managed to stick with the team that drafted them even after years of failure. Unfortunately, for Beal, all the losing has taken a toll.
Speaking to Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, the Wizards shooting guard spoke about the challenges of his situation and the one loss that has stuck out to him the most in his career so far.
“I would say it was two, three years ago,” Beal started. “I think we lost to Chicago and it kinda eliminated us from being in the playoffs. I think that was the year before we got [Russell Westbrook]. That loss really bothered me. I would say that was probably one of the biggest losses that like, ‘Yeah, this bothers me.’ Because I wanted to make the playoffs bad. I wanted to make it bad… That one stuck with me for a long time. I was really frustrated with that one.”
“You don’t like getting your ass kicked every night.”
– Bradley Beal on how losing has impacted him personally
Watch his full live interview with @TaylorRooks in the B/R app NOWhttps://t.co/KIyCHjQB8D pic.twitter.com/jhMb83qW8W
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 9, 2022
Beal, 28, is a young and talented scorer who has emerged as a star for the Wizards. This past season, he averaged 23.2 points per game on 45% shooting. Sadly, Washington finished 12th in the East with a 35-47 record.
It’s a position Beal finds himself in constantly, and it’s clear that he’s tired of enduring it year after year.
Hopefully, this summer, the Wizards will finally build him a roster that can compete in the playoffs and replace his thoughts of that loss to the Bulls years ago with visions of victory when it matters the most.
