Bradley Beal 'ecstatic' about second season with Phoenix Suns
Bradley Beal missed 29 games last season, making it difficult for the Phoenix Suns to maximize their potential with him, Devin Booker and Kevin Durant as a star trio.
Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal feels last season would have went way differently if he were healthy.
“I missed (29) games, we won 49 games,” Beal told the “Run Your Race” show on Tidal League.
“If I played half of them games, we the No. 1 seed in the West.”
Beal may have a point. But he and the Suns will need to make him the No. 1 scorer in the NBA he was with the Washington Wizards, where he averaged at least 30 points (30.5 points per game in 2019-20 and 31.3 points per game in 2020-21) in back-to-back seasons.
Beal said he lost 20 pounds to get back to a more comfortable, lighter weight.
“In years past, when I was at my best and being explosive and playing my game, I was much lighter,” Beal said. “Last year, I was pretty heavy.”
Beal is also looking to play with more joy, he said.
“I kind of challenged myself right,” Beal said. “ … One thing I didn’t do and it’s my main focus and goal this year is, ‘have fun.’”
Beal elaborated and further clarified on his point following the Suns’ third day of training camp last Thursday.
“I think we might have taken it a little out of context,” Beal laughed.
“For me, this environment now is for sure lightyears better than what we experienced, everybody from last year. It’s just a new energy. (For) everybody, it’s just a new burst of joy and passion to the game. We’re excited about the pieces that we added, so it’s a lot that we can look forward to. We finished off the year on a high note, too. Obviously, we didn’t finish well but we were competing well and there’s a lot of things we can build on into these years. It’s a lot of positives, and joy is the biggest thing. If you’re joyful, you’re enjoying it, you have the best job in the world.”
The Suns finished 49-33 this past season, avoiding the NBA play-in as the No. 6 seed. Beal played a crucial role to help the Suns finish the season with an 11-3 record.
Phoenix was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the No. 3 seed Minnesota Timberwolves via a sweep.
Beal seemingly had a poor reaction to the Suns’ defeat. This season, he looks more refreshed.
“I feel ecstatic right now,” Beal said. “I’m super excited.
" … Everybody’s acclimated with each other, so I’m past that phase. Now, we can just hit the ground running.”