When it comes to coaching up AAU players, Bradley Beal certainly does not mince words.
Video emerged over the weekend of Beal giving a speech to his St. Louis-based AAU team, Bradley Beal Elite. Beal, who coaches the team himself, was apparently upset over a poor performance, and did not hold back with his NSFW message for his young players about how tough it is to reach the NBA.
RAW FOOTAGE – "What can you do to impact the basketball to WIN?" @RealDealBeal23 @BradBealElite
🎥 @jg2filmz
*motivation purposes* pic.twitter.com/M3P2ayJzxf— JG ™ (@jgarvinnn) June 4, 2022
“I got news for you: when you get to the next level, if you get there, you ain’t going to be no offensive guy,” Beal said. “That’s just real, fellas. How many college guys y’all know averaging 20 a game? … You’re not going to school to be a scorer, fellas. What can you do to impact the basketball game to win? F–k your stats. Because guess what? They’re terrible, quite frankly. So why do you care? Y’all focusing on the wrong s—. You need to be focusing on how to win games.”
The whole thing is worth watching, though it is quite NSFW.
As harsh as it is, Beal’s message is pretty much spot on. Generally, even the average NBA role player was the star of a team at some point in their life and have had to adapt to playing a supporting role. Making winning plays that don’t necessarily show up on a stat sheet can keep a player in the league for years, even if they don’t put up big scoring numbers.
Beal is a great scorer, but he certainly understands the value of teamwork and knowing one’s role. That’s part of why he’s likely going to be making a lot of money this summer.
