Ever since John Wall and Bradley Beal admitted to tension between the two early in their careers, media and fans have been chomping at any glimmer of dissension. They got their opening this week when the Wizards won their third straight game after Wall was sidelined with a knee injury.
Washington topped back-to-back NBA contenders in the Oklahoma City Thunder and Toronto Raptors, with a great deal of ball movement. Following the latter win, Beal spoke on the team’s ability to win without Wall. “Everybody eats. That’s our motto. That’s fun basketball,” Beal professed.
National media and analysts took that comment and ran with it, ignoring any and all other words Beal stated. For much of the next day the sports world and Twitter debated on Beal’s choice of words. It got bothersome, and eventually Beal chimed in on Twitter.
Y’all reaching!!!!
— Bradley Beal (@RealDealBeal23) February 2, 2018
On Saturday, the Wizards dominated the Orlando Magic 115-98 to improve to 4-0 without Wall in his latest absence and 10-6 for the season. After the game, Beal answered the debate.
“For us to say that we’re a better team without John it’s, like, that’s comical in a sense. Come on, let’s be real,” Beal said, per Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington. “The guy’s the head of our franchise, a five-time all-star. Let’s be realistic. I think what benefits us is we figured out how to play without John. Reality is reality… We’re not sitting here saying we’re a better team without him, by no means.”
Yes, can we all be realistic as Beal suggested. The Wizards are not better without Wall. Scott Brooks and the Wizards’ coaching staff have done a great job adjusting to not having such a spectacular player in Wall. Any thought otherwise is ridiculous. With that said, Beal made sure to clear up the “everybody eats” comment as he stated it was a reference to the movie Paid in Full and not a slight at Wall.
“On top of that, I was quoting a movie. I don’t know if anybody saw ‘Paid In Full’ but I was quoting a movie. Everybody eats. Everybody has success. Everybody gets a touch,” Beal said per Hughes.
This should be a dead issue after Beal’s clarification. Then again, it should have never been a story to begin with. Let’s just enjoy the Wizards’ four-game winning streak, drama free.
