John Wall, Bradley Beal Discuss Relationship

When John Wall admitted earlier this year that he and Bradley Beal had “a tendency to dislike each other on the court,” it led to a series of reports and columns suggesting that perhaps the Wizards wouldn’t be able to keep both players for the long term. But with Beal beginning a new five-year contract and Wall not going anywhere anytime soon, the duo is looking forward to a productive future, as Michael Lee of The Vertical writes.

“This is my brother at the end of the day,” Beal said of Wall. “Nothing is going to change. If I didn’t want to be here, if we did beef, I wouldn’t have signed my contract. That’s what it ultimately comes down to.”

Wall agreed with Beal’s assessment of the situation, pointing out that he “wouldn’t have begged him to come back” if he wasn’t optimistic about the long-term outlook in D.C. The Wizards’ point guard also believes his comments about the duo’s on-court growing pains were somewhat misconstrued.

“I think everybody blew it out of proportion for no reason,” Wall said. “I mean, if you look at any two great teammates, and two young, great guys, that’s talented and want to be great, you’re going to have ups and downs. Everything is not going to be perfect.”

Beal’s new five-year contract with Washington is a maximum-salary deal that will pay him nearly $128MM, an enormous sum for a player who has been plagued by injury issues and hasn’t had a true breakout season yet. But Wall is hoping that Wizards fans will be patient with Beal and allow him to continue to improve.

“He had injuries the last couple of years and they’re like, ‘He don’t deserve it.’ Let him get a chance to earn it,” Wall said. “Let him be an All-Star. Let him see if he can be healthy for a whole season and see what he can do. … I want him to be an All-Star, just like I am. It’s no fun when it’s just one guy. If another guy is there, it makes it more fun.”

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