The Wizards are seeking a new head coach for the first time since 2016, as the organization and Scott Brooks couldn’t come to an agreement on a new contract.
Bradley Beal, whose input will obviously matter given that he’s the franchise star, spoke on when he gets involved in the process.
“More towards the end,” Beal said. (via Sabreena Merchant of SB Nation) “So, obviously, the higher-ups, they go through the process and investigating, thorough background checks and whatever they need to do to figure out who they want their candidates to be. Then when they dwindle down to about two to four is when Russ (Russell Westbrook) and I will probably step in. They’ll ask you know, who do you like, what do you like, go from there. But hasn’t been too much, you know, we let the GM do his job, and trust him to find the right one.”
Beal is participating in this year’s Olympics as a member of Team USA, as they’ll be competing for a gold medal in Tokyo later this month. Beal spoke on how special it was for him to be selected to the team.
“When Jerry Colangelo calls you, you know it’s for either USA or somehow you go into the Hall of Fame,” Beal said. “He’s very powerful in the basketball world, you know he is USA Basketball. And it was just remarkable, you know, to hear his voice and he wanted me to be a part. You know, I want you there, I want you to play for the team. I want you to represent this country.
I feel every player at least once wants to be an Olympian. Just to be called an Olympian is cool, to win a gold medal is even better.”
Beal acknowledged the rigors of Team USA camp, but was complimentary about the experience as well, particularly about Gregg Popovich’s coaching style.
“Camp’s been intense, it’s been tough,” Beal said. “I mean it’s like NBA camp on steroids almost. it’s very attentive to detail, (Gregg Popovich) is excellent, like he is awesome to work with. And he just demands the best out of all of us, you know. And I think that’s what we all love and respect about him is there’s no favoritism, there’s accountability at every level, coaches, players, everybody, even himself. So I respect that heavily.”
Beal finished second to Stephen Curry in scoring this season, but if you ask Beal, he feels that there is more he can improve on heading into next season and from being around Team USA.
“Obviously I always want to be better at everything, I say that every year, but in particular, I want to shoot more threes, deeper threes, and post up a little bit more,” Beal said. “I feel like those are two areas I want to kind of dial in and focus in on more… and then, obviously, learning from so many guys on this team, you know their mentality going into the game, their preparation, the same with Pop.”
Wizards fans should feel great about Beal’s commitment to use this opportunity to better himself as an all-around player and should also feel encouraged that he and Westbrook are being consulted in their search for a new head coach.
