Ted Leonsis is going in on his team’s former franchise player.
The Washington Wizards owner Leonsis was interviewed this week by Mike Unger of MoCo360. In the interview, Leonsis was asked about the recent backlash he got over his attempts to move both the Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals (also owned by Leonsis) to a new arena in Virginia.
Leonsis responded by getting in a shot at ex-Wizards star Bradley Beal, who openly criticized Leonsis for the planned move after getting traded by the Wizards to the Phoenix Suns.
“Everyone has their problems,” said Leonsis. “I’ll use, as an example, Bradley Beal. He was one of our [Wizards] players. He had a no-trade contract, and he wanted to be traded. He went to Phoenix. When we announced we were moving, he found it necessary to get online and say, ‘You’re making a big mistake. You shouldn’t be moving.’
“I thought that was gratuitous, but I didn’t say anything,” Leonsis went on. “[Phoenix] made the playoffs and got swept in the first round. And there’s a lot of criticism of Bradley Beal. That’s how life is, right? You can criticize. Can you take the criticism back? It’s the world we live in.”
Leonsis, who has owned the Wizards since 2010, clearly did not appreciate the comments made by Beal, a three-time All-Star and All-NBA selection who played for Washington from 2012-23. You can read the full remarks Beal made at the time calling out Leonsis over the move here.
Of course, this is all a moot point now because Leonsis’ efforts fell short after Virginia officials ended negotiations for the move this past March. The Wizards and Capitals then promptly agreed on a new deal with Washington D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser, keeping both teams in the D.C. area through at least 2050.
But there is still obviously some bad blood between the two men, and Leonsis was more than happy to point out that the Suns were swept out of the first round last season (with Beal bearing the brunt of the criticism).
Though Beal’s big contract (including the no-trade clause) was given to him by Leonsis and the Wizards in the first place, it is probably safe to say that Beal, who can become a free agent in 2026, won’t be back in Washington any time soon.
