Suns suffer more comically bad luck after news of Bradley Beal’s return

Nov 8, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (3) controls the ball against the Chicago Bulls at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports

The Phoenix Suns have to be a slapstick comedy at this point.

Phoenix confirmed this week that star guard Bradley Beal will be making his return to the lineup Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors. Beal missed the last 12 straight games due to a back injury and has been sidelined for 19 of the Suns’ 22 games this season overall.

The impending return of Beal is a considerable boost to a 12-10 Phoenix team that has lacked additional scoring punch and offensive creativity. But unfortunately for the Suns, the figurative monkey paw curled along with it.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Tuesday morning that fellow Suns star Kevin Durant will now miss the game against the Warriors due to an ankle injury. That means that Phoenix’s Big Three of Beal, Durant, and Devin Booker still won’t be able to make their debut all together.

It is almost farcical at this point that the Suns are now nearly one-third of the way into the season, and their Big Three still hasn’t played in a single game together (at least one of Beal, Durant, or Booker has missed every single contest this year because of an injury). There was already serious skepticism before the season over how the trio of stars would be able to blend together, and now they have essentially lost two full months and counting of the ability to build chemistry.

Granted, Phoenix’s Big Three could still debut as soon as Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets. But given the seemingly nagging nature of the injury that Beal is just getting back from, they have essentially become Schrödinger’s Big Three — one that simultaneously exists and doesn’t exist.