{"id":18236,"date":"2019-01-19T13:32:05","date_gmt":"2019-01-19T18:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnba.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=18236"},"modified":"2019-01-19T13:32:05","modified_gmt":"2019-01-19T18:32:05","slug":"bradley-beal-deserves-all-star-recognition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2019\/01\/19\/bradley-beal-deserves-all-star-recognition\/","title":{"rendered":"Bradley Beal Deserves All-Star Recognition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We are now officially past the halfway point in the NBA season. We\u2019re closer to the playoffs than we are to opening night tip-off. So all the early season rust is officially off. We&#8217;re past the point of working out the kinks. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/washington-wizards\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Washington Wizards<\/a> are still disappointing, but not <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bealbr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bradley Beal<\/a><\/strong>. Bradley Beal is an all-star.<\/p>\n<h1><strong>Bradley Beal Deserves All-Star Recognition<\/strong><\/h1>\n<p>You can blame the Wizards\u2019 losing on injuries, or on poor roster construction. You can even blame it on questionable coaching at times from <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/brooksc01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scott Brooks<\/a><\/strong>. But you <em>cannot<\/em> blame this on Beal.\u00a0If anything, this team is losing in spite of the 25-year old shooting guards\u2019 herculean season.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>No Wall, No Problem<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>For the litany of injuries Washington has had to deal with this season, none is worse than <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/walljo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">John Wall<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s season-ending heel injury. But even though the injury <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/2019\/01\/10\/the-john-wall-effect\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">seems like a season-ender for the Wizards<\/a>, Beal is determined to prove any doubters wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Besides, Beal has some experience carrying the load without Wall. Last season, Wall missed a total of 41, including a 25-game stretch from January through the end of March. Many thought that would doom Washington. But with all eyes on Beal, D.C\u2019s shooting guard stepped up. In games without Wall last year, Beal averaged 22 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.1 assist, 1.1 steals and 0.5 blocks on 44.5-33-79.2 shooting. Beal\u2019s efforts were just enough to keep Washington afloat, and they ultimately squeaked into the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>This time, Beal isn\u2019t just doing well without Wall. He\u2019s doing it all. This season, Beal is on pace to post career-highs in:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Minutes,<\/li>\n<li>Field goal attempts,<\/li>\n<li>Field goal makes,<\/li>\n<li>2-point attempts,<\/li>\n<li>2-point makes,<\/li>\n<li>3-point attempts,<\/li>\n<li>Free throw attempts,<\/li>\n<li>Free throw makes,<\/li>\n<li>Offensive rebounds,<\/li>\n<li>Defensive rebounds,<\/li>\n<li>Assists,<\/li>\n<li>Steals,<\/li>\n<li>Blocks,<\/li>\n<li>Points,<\/li>\n<li>Usage rate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Additionally, his efg% and PER are both currently higher this year than they were during his entire 2017-18 all-star season.<\/p>\n<p>Even though he\u2019s the primary scoring option on a depleted D.C. squad, Beal has excelled with increased attention and pressure. He\u2019s actually gotten better in Wall\u2019s absence. Before Wall began his extended stay on the sideline, Beal was averaging &#8220;just&#8221; 23\/4.8\/4.7 on 47-33-79 shooting with a Game Score of 16.68. In the 10 games since Wall\u2019s season ended, he\u2019s put up 30.2\/5.8\/6.2\/2.4 on 46-40-84 shooting with a Game Score of 21.62.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Where\u2019s The Love?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Beal is balling, there\u2019s no doubt. But fans may not be taking notice. After the first round of All-Star voting, Beal ranked 9<sup>th<\/sup> among Eastern Conference guards.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">LeBron\/Steph and Giannis\/Kyrie lead the first returns of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NBAAllStar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NBAAllStar<\/a> Voting 2019 presented by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Google?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Google<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>Vote on <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/R6fBO5LSAS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/R6fBO5LSAS<\/a>, the NBA App or by searching for your favorite player or team on Google.<br \/>\nVote now! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gcW4K59HC0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/gcW4K59HC0<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JIZFyIC2Pu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/JIZFyIC2Pu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 2019 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBAAllStar\/status\/1080902825159348224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 3, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The second and third rounds of voting didn\u2019t help him too much, either. He actually dropped one spot among the East\u2019s guards. 10<sup>th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The second returns of <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NBAAllStar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NBAAllStar<\/a> Voting 2019 presented by <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Google?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Google<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p>Vote on <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/R6fBO5LSAS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/R6fBO5LSAS<\/a>, the NBA App or by searching for your favorite player or team on Google.<br \/>\nVote now! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7WGNCNxnJB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/7WGNCNxnJB<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/akz3wREzFM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/akz3wREzFM<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 2019 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NBAAllStar\/status\/1083439000197754880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 10, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Expecting Beal to get the most votes in a conference that includes backcourt stars like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/simmobe01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Simmons<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lowryky01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Lowry<\/a><\/strong>, and the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wadedw01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dwyane Wade<\/a><\/strong> goodbye tour may be asking a bit much. But seeing <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lavinza01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach LaVine<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/linje01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jeremy Lin<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dragigo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Goran Dragic<\/a><\/strong> above Beal just seems wrong.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Keeping Good Company<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Aside from putting up career highs, Beal\u2019s stats put him amongst some elite company. If you\u2019re measuring workload purely by minutes played, only <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hardeja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Harden<\/a><\/strong> is playing more mpg than Beal (plus, he\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/2019\/01\/07\/mvp-candidate-james-harden\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">setting fire to the entire NBA<\/a>).\u00a0 Beal\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/seasonleaders\/_\/league\/nba\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ESPN Rating<\/a> (a catch-all player rating) is second to only one Eastern Conference guard (Irving) and one other shooting guard (Harden).<\/p>\n<p>Beal just passed <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jordami01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Jordan<\/a><\/strong> for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/washington\/wizards\/bradley-beal-tops-wizards-franchise-record-threes-and-more-stats-crazy-2-ot-loss\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">most 40-point games<\/a> in a Wizards uniform. He\u2019s the first player since <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/chambwi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wilt Chamberlain<\/a><\/strong> to go for 40\/10\/10 in his first two triple-doubles. He\u2019s only the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HoopDistrictDC\/status\/1084574443345793024\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">8<sup>th<\/sup> player<\/a> EVER to record multiple 40-point triple doubles in a season. And Beal\u2019s the first since <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/roberos01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oscar Robertson<\/a><\/strong> to have <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/wizards-news-bradley-beal-joins-oscar-robertson-only-players-with-multiple-40-10-15-games-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">multiple 40\/10\/15<\/a> games in a single season.<\/p>\n<p>After the Wizards&#8217; thrilling win in London over the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/new-york-knicks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">New York Knicks<\/a>, Beal ranks 1<sup>st\u00a0<\/sup>in points, 2<sup>nd\u00a0<\/sup>in assists, 3<sup>rd<\/sup>\u00a0in rebounds, and 3rd in steals among Eastern conference shooting guards. Expand that out to include the entire NBA and he ranks 2<sup>nd<\/sup>, 5<sup>th<\/sup>, 5<sup>th<\/sup>, and 6<sup>th<\/sup> among all shooting guards. Whether you look simply within the Eastern conference or across the entire league, Beal is among the best.<\/p>\n<p>And more than deserving of a second consecutive all-star selection.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Will it Be Enough?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bealbr01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bradley Beal<\/a> doesn\u2019t make it to the 2019 All-Star game, he should be atop every single snub list there is. He should be in Charlotte for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nba.com\/allstar\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NBA All-Star weekend<\/a> this February. That much is clear.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s less clear is whether Beal\u2019s improved play will help or hurt his chances of staying in D.C. He\u2019s a young, coveted piece amidst an organization with real salary issues. Washington could surely get a lot back for Beal <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/2018\/12\/13\/a-look-at-players-on-the-nba-trade-market\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">on the trade market<\/a> (hello, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/los-angeles-lakers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>). But it would be heartbreaking for Washington to lose such a promising and talented (and affordable) 25-year old all-star.<\/p>\n<p>Is Beal\u2019s play only opening an additional can of worms for Washington? Last season, Beal kept Washington in the playoff hunt largely by himself. Washington went 19-22 without Wall that year. In a smaller sample size, Washington has gone 8-5 in the 13 games Wall has missed. Over the last two seasons, Washington is a combined 62-65 (0.488). In games with Wall: 25-38 (0.400). In games without Wall: 27-27 (0.500). Maybe Washington is better without their supermax point guard&#8230;even if their shooting guard doesn&#8217;t agree.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Postgame Sound: Bradley Beal and Otto Porter Jr. after today&#8217;s win in London over the Knicks.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WizKnicks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#WizKnicks<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NBALondon?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NBALondon<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/yc2zIvy5EJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/yc2zIvy5EJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WashWizards\/status\/1086067686570946560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 18, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Main Image:<br \/>\n<a id=\"1OloKCRUTx9e0VrytoC2oA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/471285654\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'1OloKCRUTx9e0VrytoC2oA',sig:'BMTDRGmWimXXiEn9HGNCTMlEAVo_SzKbWhklja5AFHU=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'471285654',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are now officially past the halfway point in the NBA season. We\u2019re closer to the playoffs than we are to opening night tip-off. So all the early season rust is officially off. We&#8217;re past the point of working out the kinks. The Washington Wizards are still disappointing, but not Bradley Beal. Bradley Beal is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2216,"featured_media":18271,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18,1608,2,62],"tags":[311,310,639,662,309],"class_list":["post-18236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wizards","category-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","tag-bradley-beal","tag-john-wall","tag-nba-all-star","tag-nba-trade-deadline","tag-washington-wizards"],"modified_by":"Daniel Richeson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2216"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}