Bradley Beal, John Wall assert relationship is fine, say they need each other

In a blink, Bradley Beal flipped the question back at a room full of reporters.

“What do you guys think it is?”

This, of course, was in response to being asked about his relationship with fellow Washington Wizards pillar John Wall. During the offseason, strain in their relationship hopped into the news cycle, often dissected and explained by people never seen on a day-to-day basis at Verizon Center. Wall was irritated enough that he shot a video explaining he had no problems with his teammate’s new maximum contract.

Wall also pointed out that, yes, they can grumble at one another on the court. Monday at Wizards media day, Beal backed that assertion. In separate interviews, they both said their relationship, despite its bumps, is fine. More crucial to them long term is each knows he needs the other.

“We don’t always agree on the court,” Beal said. “You’re not always going to agree with coach [Scott] Brooks, something he says. But, at the end of the day, we’re backcourt mates. We’re teammates. We’re the two leaders of the team and we’re going to help win us games.”

“Whenever you have your two best players and they both want the game-winning shot and want those types of plays, you’re going to have disagreements on the court,” Wall said. “Other than that, we’re fine. We talked. We talked about it. We’re both two grown men. Everybody wants us to dislike each other. We don’t dislike each other. Just at times, any team that has two great players that want to be great will have disagreements from time to time. Other than that, we’re fine.”

Wall is entering his seventh season. Beal his fifth. The Wizards padded their young backcourt’s basketball upbringing the last three years with veterans like Trevor Ariza, Paul Pierce and Jared Dudley. This season, Beal and Wall have firm control of the conch. They are also moving into different parts of their careers.

Beal signed a maximum deal during the NBA’s delirious offseason which was steeped in a skyrocketing salary cap. The Wizards committed to paying Beal more than $127 million in a five-year contract. In the summer of 2013, Wall signed his five-year contract. Because of the massive difference in the salary cap between last summer and 2013, he’ll be paid just less than $85 million during the life of his deal.

Wall is also entering the third year of his contract. For three consecutive seasons, he has gone to the All-Star game. He has often played through injuries, notably coming back in the 2015 Eastern Conference semifinals despite breaking his hand in the series. And, he knows the meter on his career and next contract negotiation is running.

Which makes the state of Wall’s knees more relevant than chemistry, new faces, team bonding or anything else for the Wizards this training camp.

Both his knees were operated on in May. Wall had loose particles removed from his right knee and calcium deposits removed from his left patella tendon. At the end of last season, his knees ached enough that he sat out the final five games.

Wall has progressed from working on his own, to playing 1-on-1, then 3-on-3. He had a “great” workout Monday morning, according to Brooks. There’s no timeline set for the return of Wall, who is clearly cognizant of the fact he will be 29 when he’s an unrestricted free agent in three years.

“I’m in no rush,” he said. “Coming into year 7 and just understanding that this is more important for my future, down the road for my career and not just rushing my way back and then probably don’t know how much time I would have left to play in my career. Just taking my time and making sure everything’s feeling right. It’s a long season.”

Beal revisits that understanding annually. He has not played more than 73 games in a season since entering the league in 2012. Last season, he set a new career-low in games played. His self-evident talent is challenged by his injury risk, making such a massive investment in a player who has been slowed each season by the same lower right leg injury an even larger gamble.

“I think when he’s healthy, he’s proven he can play in this league,” Wall said. “He can be an All-Star. He can be one of the best two-way players.”

Brooks managed two high-end players on the same team when he coached in Oklahoma City. Then, he handled Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Starting this season, he will work with Beal and Wall. The trio is interdependent. If the three are not their maximum individual selves, then the collective will fail.

“I haven’t approached either one of them about it,” Brooks said. “But, I do know this: I’ve been around a lot of great teams as a player. I’ve been around a lot of great teams as an assistant coach and a head coach. If you have a team that bickers with one another constantly, you don’t have a good team. If you have a team that never has any disagreements, you don’t have a good team. That means you don’t care. There’s a balance.”

For at least the next three years, this group is in search of it.