Bradley Beal Gets Brutally Honest About Phoenix Suns’ Failures & Future

A day after the Phoenix Suns were eliminated from the NBA playoffs after being swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Bradley Beal spoke about the negative impact of repeated health issues and insufficient team continuity.

Despite Beal missing 29 games, the season ended with a 49-game regular season win. He believes the team’s fortunes could have been different if important players had not been sidelined due to injuries.

“I mean, in retrospect we won 49 [regular-season] games,” Beal went on to say. “There are a lot of games. And I missed what, around 30 games? That is a lot of games. I’m not saying we would have won every game if I had played, but we would be in a very different position if I and everyone else stayed healthy all year.”

The combination of Beal, Devin Booker, and Kevin Durant played only 41 games together, but their record projected them as a top contender if they remained healthy. Phoenix went 26-15 in those games, despite the fact that they needed more practice to develop synergy for their point guard experiment.

“We didn’t look at this thing as a one-year thing and we’re going to come in and just, we only got this year to figure it out,” Beal told reporters. “No, we have time. You don’t want to use that as an excuse, but that’s how things work in the real world.”

Despite a season full of failures, Beal shares the Suns’ positive outlook for the future. They concentrated on maximizing the capabilities of their current core in order to fulfill their championship goals.

 

 

“We have a window.” “Yeah, it’s a short window, but we have one, so we want to make the most of it,” Beal explained. “And, obviously, we still have a lot of room to expand. We all need to do better. I have to be better. And we all have to improve as an organization and work toward the goal of winning the crown, which is not simple.”

When asked to reflect on the Suns’ poor postseason journey, Beal did not mince words. With high expectations for both his squad and his own performance, the sharp reality of their quick exit was palpable.

“It’s a [expletive] feeling, excuse my language,” Beal admitted. “You have huge expectations for yourself as a team and obviously individually to contribute and be a part of something really big, and that series just sucked.”

Beal, who was just acquired from Washington, is looking forward to completing his big role with the Suns, which is supported by a contract extension and a clear commitment to overcome this season’s obstacles.