When the drama of the last few days had finally ebbed, Bradley Beal insisted he wasn’t bitter. Beal, a two-time All-Star who is scoring at a career-high rate on a losing team, was left off the All-Star reserves announced last week.
Sure, he’d called the omission “disrespectful” in a postgame television interview the night he found out. But the Wizards star said he had moved on.
Being overlooked for an individual honor doesn’t define him as a player, he said.
Nor did it fuel the 34 points he put up against the Charlotte Hornets Thursday, or the 34 points he posted in a 113-107 win Saturday over the Brooklyn Nets.
Still, he couldn’t help throwing one last jab at the league Saturday.
“I just wish we would have had the same mindset three or four years ago when we were the fourth seed,” Beal said, “and I got snubbed then.
“But you know, to each his own.”
That “mindset,” of course, is a reference to the thought that winning matters over personal stats, and that the league’s coaches chose not to vote for Beal because his team was well below .500.
Over it or not, leaving Beal off the team caused a stir. Teammate Isaiah Thomas blasted the “political” process. Beal’s agent put out a scathing statement, while the guard’s fiancée went on the Wizards’ postgame radio show and derided the “popularity contest.”
Speaking to reporters after the win over the Nets, Beal said he appreciated the support. He added he wasn’t one to sulk.
“Everybody’s been putting up crazy numbers lately,” Beal said. “One thing I won’t do is disrespect anybody that made it. Everybody that made is more than deserving of it.”
Across the league, those who felt they got a raw deal from the All-Star Game have responded with some of their best games of the season. A day before losing to Washington, Nets star Kyrie Irving hung 54 points on the Bulls. Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns scored 32 in a loss to the Clippers. Phoenix’s Devin Booker shot 50% while scoring 27.
Then, there’s Beal. Even before his perceived-snub, he was on a tear. Saturday’s win marked the sixth straight outing in which the 26-year-old scored at least 30 points. The most significant shift in Beal’s game is that he is now consistently attacking the rim — and getting the foul calls that come with it.
In 10 games this season, Beal has made at least 10 free throws. Four of those have come in the last four games.
Coach Scott Brooks said the uptick has coincided with the return of injured players like Davis Bertans. Bertans is a deadly shooter from beyond the arc, forcing defenders outside the paint when the Wizards space the floor. Center Thomas Bryant’s return, too, gives the Wizards a respectable roll man who draws the attention opposing defenses in the pick-and-roll.
Brooks credited Beal for better recognizing when to be aggressive.
“That’s what he has to continue to do,” Brooks said. “He’s growing as a player as well. I think his ability to see things quicker and his ball-handling is much improved over the last four years. His decision making, his playmaking.”
The Wizards are now 7-7 in 14 games. While they were blown out on the road last week, they responded with two quality wins — all while climbing in the standings. Somehow, even at 17-31, Washington is only 3½ games behind the eight-seed in the East.
“Once you’re 40 plus games in, you know what coach wants and know how we want to play in our system and our roles and we’re just getting better every day,” Beal said. “We’re just putting in the work and it’s showing up on the floor.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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