John Wall and Bradley Beal are the two centerpieces of the Washington Wizards’ future, but apparently they don’t always see eye-to-eye on the floor.
In a recent interview with CSN Mid-Atlantic, Wall hinted at a bit of an on-court rift between him and his backcourt partner Beal.
“I think a lot of times we have a tendency to dislike each other on the court,” Wall said. “We got to be able to put that to the side. If you miss somebody on one play or don’t have something go right … as long as you come to each other and talk. If I starting arguing with somebody I’m cool. I’m just playing basketball.
“Now that you have your money you got to go out there and improve your game,” Wall continued in reference to Beal. “I want you to be an All-Star just as much as I’m an All-Star. If we were playing well as a tandem like the other two superstars that play together as a backcourt, play as a tandem, one night it’s going to be his night, one night it’s going to be mine, some nights it might be both of us. Those are nights it’s going to be tough to beat us.”
Beal, who signed a max deal this summer to remain in Washington, agreed saying, “It’s tough because we’re both alphas. It’s always tough when you have two guys who firmly believe in themselves, who will bet on themselves against anybody else, who want to be that guy. We both can be that guy.
“Sometimes I think we both lose sight of the fact that we need each other,” Beal elaborated. “I wouldn’t be in the situation I’m in without John. John wouldn’t be in the situation he’s in without me, without the rest of the team. It goes hand-in-hand so it’s kind of a pride thing.”
Such differences can be inevitable with two ball-dominant guards trying to co-exist and can sometimes lead to the demise of the partnership (see: Derrick Rose-Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic-Eric Bledsoe, Rajon Rondo-Monta Ellis, etc.). But for every backcourt pairing that has failed to make it work, it seems like an equal number have come to a mutual understanding and used that to achieve great success (e.g. Stephen Curry-Klay Thompson, Kyle Lowry-DeMar DeRozan, Chris Paul-J.J. Redick, etc.).
Wall and Beal are still young (25 and 23, respectively) and haven’t had as much time to build an on-court rapport as you might think with Beal’s injury history and Wall’s own occasional bumps and bruises. With a new head coach in Scott Brooks who was an effective manager of egos during his time in Oklahoma City, hopefully this is all just part of the maturation process for the hyper-talented duo.
Image Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
H/T SLAMOnline
