After scoring 40 or more points for the third time this season in yet another Washington Wizards loss, an exasperated Bradley Beal isn’t hiding his misery.
Following his 47-point effort in a 124-106 defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans, Beal was asked if he’s frustrated.
“Is the sky blue?” he said calmly.
Beal is doing everything he can to help Washington win, but he’s not getting the results he so badly wants. Playing without eight players because of injury, health and safety protocols or rest, Washington (3-11) dropped its third straight on Wednesday and now has the worst record in the NBA.
With Russell Westbrook (rest) out, Beal made 17-of-37 shots, including six 3-pointers, and added six assists and four steals. But no matter how many points he continues to pour in, Beal’s Wizards keep losing.
Beal leads the league in scoring with 35.4 points per game. But the shooting guard also owns a distinction he would rather not have: Beal has lost 10 straight games since 2019 when scoring 40 points or more. That’s the most in NBA history, according to research by Elias Sports Bureau.
This is not what Beal signed up for when he extended his deal for two more years on a $72 million maximum contract in 2019.
“It’s tough,” Beal said. “I am not going to sit here and be naive. … We want to win, and I want to win. This is why I stayed. I want to win. I figured this is the place I can get it done. It’s tough. Last year was what it was. We had a lot of guys out. John [Wall] was out. It was just a rotten year. COVID hit.”
He added: “This year it’s the same thing. Like in a mini-bubble outside the bubble. No fans, no nothing, no practice time. It’s been tough.”
The Wizards did not play for nearly two weeks after a coronavirus outbreak on the team resulted in six postponed games. The team hopes to have several of the players sidelined by the health and safety protocols back as soon as Friday’s game against Atlanta.
And Beal is doing his best to try to lead the team. But of the 95 players in NBA history with at least ten 40-point games in their careers, Beal has the worst record of that group at 6-19 when scoring 40 points.
In the waning moments of the loss to New Orleans, Beal was seen sunk into his chair on the bench, frustration showing with his body language. It was yet another image of a bitter-faced Beal trying to cope with losing after delivering a scoring gem.
“Yeah, I got to be better with that,” Beal said of hiding his emotions. “I mean, media is going to blow it up. … I’m mad about losing. If I am sitting over there laughing and smiling, what is the media going to say then? ‘Oh, he doesn’t take it serious.’
“I just hate losing. I hate losing. And I am going to continue to show pissed-off faces. I try to control them as much as I can, but I don’t like losing.”
Wizards coach Scott Brooks hopes that his team will have reinforcements back soon. Deni Avdija, Davis Bertans, Troy Brown Jr., Rui Hachimura, Ish Smith and Moritz Wagner have all been out due to health and safety protocols.
Brooks knows his star guard’s patience is being tested.
“He’s a serious athlete,” Brooks said. “That’s what I love about him. He’s a serious guy. He competes. He wants to win. He’s a winner. We’re not winning as a team, but Brad is a winning basketball player.”
Beal, 27, has scored 30 or more points in nine of his 13 games this season.
“I don’t come out and say I want to score 50, I want to score 40 tonight,” Beal said. “That doesn’t happen. A lot of the s— I am doing, I am in awe half the time too. That is why I credit [God] for everything.
“I feel like I will drive myself bats— crazy if I [am] consumed in every single problem, like in every single thing that we did wrong or every single loss. I’m taking it a day at a time and constantly focusing on getting better — how can I help my teammates get better, what more can I do personally to help us win? … I would be lying if I said it was easy.”
Asked if all the scoring he has done will at least draw attention and respect for the upcoming All-Star voting, Beal said he wasn’t counting on it.
“I don’t know, I was leading scorer for a point last year, too, I think up to All-Star break,” said Beal, who was not an All-Star last season despite averaging 30.5 points per game. “And you see what happened then. So I’m definitely not getting my hopes up this year.”