The Wizards’ veteran leader clearly is not happy the team is off to such a poor start, and he’s letting his teammates know about it.
Bradley Beal is a leader by example, and he’s not a guy that normally calls out or throws his teammates under the bus. Instead, he handles business behind the scenes, in the locker room or elsewhere, when the cameras aren’t rolling.
But Beal may have hit his breaking point, as the Wizards are off to a 6-15 start, and it’s sure not looking like they’ll be in the postseason mix this year. Not only that, the trade deadline is roughly six weeks away, so Beal may be looking to convey that he’s unhappy in his current situation, without actually saying it directly.
Losing to the lowly Hornets by 22 points is embarrassing no matter how it happens, and what a team’s record is going on, which is probably why Beal had a lot to say after the team did exactly that on Sunday. He called them out for playing without pride, and also intimated they’re dragging the team down, no matter how well he plays.
“We’ve gotta have some pride, man, some dog. We’ve got no dog. We just kind of let teams just walk all over us,” Beal said, via Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “… It’s tough because we’re all adults. I can’t do it for guys. I can only do it for myself. All we can do is encourage the next man to be ready to go and accept the challenge. I can’t do that for someone else. I can’t do your guys’ job and you can’t do my job. You know what I’m saying?”
Well, he’s not wrong.
