2nd NBA top scorer last season behind the untouchable James Harden, Bradley Beal was able to display all his scoring qualities. Qualities that he does not really get from his favorite player, whose identity is really surprising.
As he entered the 2019-20 fiscal year, Bradley Beal knew the magnitude of his task in Washington. In the absence of John Wall, who will not have played a single minute this season, the rear had to literally carry his team on his shoulders. And if he did not know how to lead it to the playoffs, it is impossible to blame him for anything despite everything.
The only real offensive threat in the Wizards, Beal has simply delivered the best year of his career. He is thus one of the only 3 players to have reached the 30 points average per game (30.5 units), while signing his career-high scoring against the Bucks with 55 points last February.
An exceptional shotmaker, he seems to finally reach the potential which had pushed the leaders of his franchise to select him in 3rd position in the 2012 Draft. Or even surpass him. In NCAA, as a freshman, he had made the heyday of college in Florida, leading it to the quarterfinals of the season-end tournament.
But this run in the jersey of the Gators could well have never happened, since Beal was a much desired prospect when he left high school, especially by the prestigious Duke program. In the podcast The Old Man and the Three, he reveals to have thus snubbed Mike Krzyzewski reluctantly, and to have deeply marked the legendary trainer.
Duke was the university of my dreams. YOU were in the university of my dreams. Coach K has been breaking my heart every day for years, every time I see him. “You know you should have played in a Duke jersey. I can’t even stand to see you. I can’t even look at you. It’s so funny, every time I see it!
But besides being one of the most recognized universities in the United States, and having at its head one of the most legendary coaches in history, Duke had another asset to convince Beal. The Blue Devils were also the team through which the favorite player of the All-Star doubles, namely… his interlocutor, JJ Redick.
You, your qualities, your energy, your passion, your t-shirt with the sleeves cut out under your jersey… It was brilliant. I was a big fan!
And don’t think the Wizards scorer was just trying to flatter his host with that statement. A few weeks earlier, while serving as the honorary commentator on a Washington match in the bubble, he was happy to learn that Coach K had compared him to Redick in the past.
Today, it is impossible to bring the two players together, as their game is so different. True definition of the catch-and-shooter, the veteran of the Pelicans has much less attributes in his panoply of player than his counterpart of DC He will nevertheless be able to boast forever to have been the hero of the latter in his youth.
Michael Jordan? Kobe Bryant? No, it wasn’t a legendary full-back that wowed Bradley Beal, but Duke star JJ Redick. A nice compliment for the New Orleans sniper.
