Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal might be too loyal for his own good

Despite reports claiming that Bradley Beal is growing frustrated with NBA pundits for their role in his never-ending trade speculation, the Washington Wizards’ days of playing host to one of the NBA’s brightest stars continue to seem all but numbered. As title-contending suitors around the league closely monitor the situation—and as the Wizards slip deeper into NBA limbo with each blowout loss—teams and fans are left to wonder not if, but when and to where Bradley Beal will eventually relocate. After all, given the frequency of player movement, Beal’s oft-mentioned commitment to Washington feels prone to crumble at any moment.

A roster comprised of a rapidly declining Russell Westbrook, a gaggle of ill-fitting or regressing role players, a coach who appears entirely at wit’s end, and a superstar who bears the weight of carrying these burdens, the Wizards make for one of the NBA’s most troubling situations. Combine that with the fact that Washington holds the worst record in the NBA even with the league’s leading scorer in tow, and the conclusion writes itself: The Wizards are flat-out bad.

In an era of player movement, Bradley Beal is choosing to stay right where he is—in the depths of basketball purgatory with the Washington Wizards.

Yet, in the face of the bleakest outlook in basketball, Bradley Beal has handled these poor circumstances as few superstars have. Not only is Beal having a career season and performing at an All-NBA level, but he seemingly refuses to quit on his teammates. Granted, his occasionally dejected body language has caused a minor stir, but Beal has every right to be frustrated. Just last Wednesday, Beal became the first player in NBA history to lose ten consecutive games when scoring at least 40 points. Still, regardless of Beal’s understandable aggravation, reports claiming that the star guard remains focused on turning the Wizards’ season around continue to circulate.

Similar accounts of Beal’s nobility go back even further. In November of 2019, Beal credited Dirk Nowitzki for his desire to build a lasting legacy in Washington. Five months later, Beal stated how he yearns to retire as a member of the Wizards during an interview with The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears, citing his ‘loyal to a fault’ nature on multiple occasions throughout their conversation.

But loyalty, despite its admirability, is a tricky construct in basketball’s current era. With big-name stars finding new and improved situations at a staggering rate, loyalty is more applauded than ever before. Recently retired greats like Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, and the aforementioned Nowitzki are revered for their ten-toes-down mentalities. On the other side of the token, stars who exercise their desire to potentially find greener pastures—LeBron James and Kevin Durant being the most notable—are relentlessly bashed.

Depending on how each player handles their specific situation, these bashings can be somewhat warranted. But despite the initial outcry, most forget how distasteful the players’ actions were in the moments leading up to their inevitable departure because said departures tend to bear great fruit in the long run. Take, for instance, the recent James Harden saga.

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Given how great Harden has looked in Brooklyn, does anyone care to acknowledge how poorly he handled his final few months as a Rocket? Or do we instead gravitate to how terrifying the Nets’ offense looks with Harden in the mix? The consensus answer skews toward the latter. In this case, many throw Harden’s previous lack of loyalty to the wayside in favor of new discussions about his seamless fit with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The hypothetical outcome had he chosen to buy into Houston’s new system is no longer relevant. All that matters now is how James Harden—like Anthony Davis last season—finds himself in a new situation that gives him the best championship odds of his career. And if Harden does win a title in Brooklyn? The drama was worth every painstaking second.

In a round-about way, this brings us back to Bradley Beal.

If he chooses to remain in Washington for the remainder of his career, Beal will retire as the franchises’ all-time most beloved player. Whether he ends up winning a title in Washington is a story that only time will tell, but from an outsider’s perspective, the odds are not promising. Still, Beal could go down as the greatest player to ever don a Wizards uniform and become a staple within the community that welcomed him with open arms when he was just 19 years old.

But if he ultimately decides that winning takes precedence, Beal will have plenty of title-contending teams knocking on his door. With his continual growth into stardom over the past three seasons (from 2018 to 2020, Beal has averaged 28.4 points, 5.6 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game on 47/35/83 shooting splits), every NBA team would be happy to bring Beal aboard. He could request a trade tomorrow and be effectively moved to a team with legitimate title aspirations by the end of the weekend. If Bradley Beal opts to go that route and becomes a championship-winning superstar in the process, his ceiling could go above and beyond being named the Greatest Wizard of All-Time.

There are benefits and drawbacks to both situations, so it all comes down to what Bradley Beal feels is best for him. Does he want to remain loyal, or does he want to win? Unfortunately, the two events seem mutually exclusive. As the adage goes, you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.

For a player who harps on the importance of winning as often as he does, breaking that coveted loyalty to the Washington Wizards is Bradley Beal’s best bet to finding that elusive winning formula. But for a player who also harps on the importance of loyalty as often as he does, choosing to stay loyal to a team that is going nowhere fast is Bradley Beal’s best bet to remaining in the depths of basketball darkness.