Is Bradley Beal right to be disgruntled with the Washington Wizards?

Bradley Beal may have expected a bit more fight from the Washington Wizards, but it’s hard to feel sympathy for him when the writing was clearly on the wall.

Coming on the heels of signing a two-year, $72 million extension with the Washington Wizards in October, the 2019-20 season has not been kind to Bradley Beal.

Despite career-high averages of 29.2 points and 6.3 assists per game, he wasn’t among the seven Eastern Conference reserves selected to the All-Star Game, prompting both his agent and fiance to fiercely come to his defense.

In a conference where even the seventh seed sits noticeably below .500, his Washington Wizards are just 17-32 on the season, 11th in the east but three and a half games out of the eighth playoff spot.

Following a mid-January loss to the Chicago Bulls that marked three in four games, the bluntness of Beal’s disapproving emotions was on full display postgame.

Per NBC Sports Washington’s Mike DePrisco:

"“I don’t like losing, I’m sorry,” Beal said. “Especially winnable games… I don’t like losing so it’s going to keep blowing up for me… Until we start winning and changing our culture.”"

Nobody likes to see the talents of a player the caliber Beal’s waste away on a subpar team, least of all Beal. It’s why so many are taking control of their careers these days and maneuvering themselves elsewhere to better maximize their primes while they still can.

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And yet, Beal seemed more than happy to sign an extension to keep him in Washington until at least 2022 with a player option for the following season.

It is admittedly a bit hypocritical to criticize the stars who maneuvered their way to greener pastures and do the same to the one who chose the road less traveled with the only team he’s ever known.

Context, however, is the key to discerning between the two, and why Beal’s displeasure with the entirety of this season draws little sympathy.

John Wall was never going to play this season as he rehabs an Achilles tear. Even with the former All-Star point guard in the lineup for 32 games last season, the Wizards were just 11-21, a .344 winning percentage that’s slightly worse than their current .347.

He’s also long been reliant on incredible speed and athleticism, two traits that have broken his body down in the form of just 73 games played over the last two years. Turning 30 next September, whatever boost he still has will only dissipate even further.

The remaining players on the roster are equal parts raw young talent in need of development or flyers taken on reclamation projects, neither of which translates to team success.

Even looking ahead to next season, there’s very little room for improvement on account of the excess amount of cap space attributed to Washington’s backcourt.

All of this information was available to Bradley Beal prior to signing less than a week before the start of the regular season. How does one then go on to publicly air his frustrations in a situation that’s falling perfectly into its expected place?

This is also coming from a guy who in regards to the materialistic benefits of a lucrative contract, per CNBC‘s Jabari Young, stated: “All the jewelry, all the cars; that s— gets old.”

Nobody should criticize Beal for attempting to build something from the ground up with the Washington Wizards. Nor should any human being take issue with a man adding generations of wealth to his bank account.

The issue stems from Bradley Beal’s blindness — whether intentional or not — to the hole he dug himself into, where the loyalty shown has come at a price he didn’t realize he might not be willing to pay.