John Wall says he, Bradley Beal must put aside ‘tendency to dislike each other on the court’
By Andre Pruitt
John Wall and Bradley Beal want to put aside their differences and become a better tandem on the court.
The Washington Wizards failed to make the playoffs last season. This came after two consecutive trips to the Eastern conference semi-finals for Washington. In the off-season, the Wizards were able to sign John Wall’s backcourt mate, Bradley Beal, to a five-year $128 million deal.
With this deal comes big expectations. Part of that is due to the fact that John Wall is entering the fourth year of a five-year, $80 million contract himself.
Both players are now guaranteed to be a tandem for at least two more seasons, unless a trade happens, and Wall wants the rocky relationship between him and Beal to improve going forward.
According to J. Michael of csnmidatlantic.com, with regard to the on-court relationship, Wall said, “I think a lot of times we have a tendency to dislike each other on the court. … 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. Now that you have your money you got to go out there and improve your game. I want you to be an All-Star just as much as I’m an All-Star.”
Also according to Michael, Beal would look to the veterans on the team when he was upset. He has reportedly spoken to both Alan Anderson and Garrett Temple in the past to voice his frustrations within the offense.
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Now both Anderson and Temple are gone, along with other veterans such as Nene and Jared Dudley. It will be up to the $178 million backcourt mates to look each other in the eye to air out their own grievances, as Wall stated, if they want to become a playoff contender again.