As the Atlanta Hawks watched film of the Washington Wizards, coach Lloyd Pierce came up with a task for the rest of his coaching staff: Name a guard in the league better at shifting directions than Bradley Beal. During that morning film session, Pierce and his assistants watched as, time after time, the Wizards star started one way only to end up going the other — exploiting openings in defenses and navigating effortlessly through double- and sometimes triple-teams.
After debating the topic among themselves, the Hawks couldn’t think of anyone else. Portland’s C.J. McCollum was probably the closest example, Pierce said.
“He’s kind of like a running back,” Pierce said of Beal, “a Barry Sanders type.”
Beal’s footwork is just one of the reasons he’s in the midst of not only a career season but one of the best years in team history.
The NBA suspended the season Wednesday over coronavirus concerns, but if Beal gets a chance to play again — the Wizards had 18 games left — he is in line to make franchise history.
Beal’s 30.6 points per game are the most since Walt Bellamy’s 31.6 in 1961-62. Bellamy, a Hall of Famer and four-time All-Star, set the franchise record that season, but Beal is already ahead of former Wizard Gilbert Arenas, who averaged 29.3 in 2005-06 and 28.4 the next season for second and third place, respectively, in the team’s record book.
Beal missed several games to injury this year, so Bellamy’s overall points per season mark is probably safe.
Beal would need 754 more points to catch Bellamy there, meaning he’d have to average 41.8 points a game.
Even that’s not out of the realm of possibility. Since the All-Star break, the 26-year-old leads the league, pouring in 36.5 a night. At that pace, Beal’s average would jump to 31.9, topping Bellamy.
It’s a goal the Wizards superstar thinks about.
“I never told anybody,” Beal told The Washington Times. “I actually wrote it down a year or two ago. It was just one of those things where it’s just, ‘Shoot for the stars and see if it happens.’ Sure enough, here I am today.”
Beal already passed Bellamy this season for the most consecutive games in team history with at least 25 points. Beal had 21 in a row before Sunday’s loss to the Miami Heat, when he finished with 23.
Beal admits he’s never seen clips of Bellamy, who retired 18 years before Beal was born. If he had, he’d see a graceful 6-foot-11 center who battled Wilt Chamberlin, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Remarkably, Bellamy set the scoring record as a rookie, when the Wizards were still the Chicago Packers. The franchise moved to Baltimore and became the Bullets two years later.
Beal has carved out his own spot among the legends of the franchise. Last month, he became Washington’s second all-time leading scorer, moving past John Wall. He began the year in fifth place, behind Jeff Malone and Wes Unseld. Elvin Hayes holds the record.
Beal, a former third overall pick with injury concerns at the beginning of his career, has evolved into an unstoppable force in part because, without the injured Wall, the short-handed Wizards needed more.
But even as opposing defenses focus their game plans on Beal, the guard has grown, both as a pure scorer and as a playmaker — he’s averaging a career-high 6.1 assists per game.
Beal also studies his own game.
Unhappy with this 3-point shot last month, Beal met with offseason trainer Drew Hanlen and in a film session, they saw a slight, previously unnoticed variation in his shooting form.
Beal tweaked his jumper, going back to his “old base.” It appears to have worked as Beal has shot 48% from deep in his last 10 games.
“I love Brad’s routine,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “You can never know with his routine if he’s shooting well or not shooting well because he’s consistent. I think that’s the key. … All the great shooters have consistent routines, and Brad has been so consistent from four years ago it’s almost boring because you know he’s gonna be here this time, he’s gonna do this before, he’s gonna do this after.”
Still, this season hasn’t been easy for Beal. Consistent losing has left him frustrated, He was furious when he found out coaches failed to vote him as a reserve for this year’s All-Star Game in Chicago. “Honestly, it’s disrespectful,” Beal told the team’s broadcast the night he found out.
His mood is better these days.
After his 39-point performance in Tuesday’s win over the Knicks, Beal laughed about his premature celebration of a teammate’s 3-pointer that ended up bouncing away. And he joked about looking for acting roles when he was asked about a play that sent him sprawling to the floor after some minor contact.
As for the points record, Beal said “it’d be awesome” to break Bellamy’s mark, but added he ultimately would rather make the playoffs.
“I’m not coming out every night like I have to go get 30,” Beal said. “I can’t have that mindset because I think I wouldn’t be playing the way I am. I’d be pressing a little bit too much. I’ll just let it happen naturally, man.”
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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