According to the Associated Press on Tuesday, Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards will not play in the remainder of the 2019-20 National Basketball Association season. However, the reason why Beal is not coming back for the restart, is not related to coronavirus. The reason is because Beal is out due to injury, specifically a rotator cuff injury.
The injury to Beal initially happened in the early portion of the regular season according to Connor Grott of upi.com. The shoulder was not getting better during the coronavirus pause.
The Wizards are also without star point guard John Wall of Raleigh, North Carolina. Wall ruptured his left Achilles tendon when he fell in his home. That injury came after he suffered an infection from an incision due to heel surgery. As a result, Wall did not play at all during the 2019-20 NBA regular season.
Beal, meanwhile, is having a career season despite not being an all-star. In 2019-20, he has had career-highs in points per game (30.5), assists per game (6.1), and free throw percentage (.842). Also this season in 57 games, Beal has a field goal percentage of .455, three-point percentage of .353, 4.2 rebounds per game, and 1.2 steals per game.
In back-to-back games this season, Beal recorded 50+ points. However, in each contest, the Wizards did not come away with the win. He had 53 points in a 126-117 Wizards loss to the Chicago Bulls on February 23, and then had 55 points in a 137-134 Wizards loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on February 24.
At first glance, one would think the Wizards have a lot of work to do to get into the NBA playoffs. At this time they have a record of 24 wins and 40 losses, and are five and a half games back of the Orlando Magic for a playoff spot. However, one must realize Washington only needs to be within four games of the eighth-place team in the Eastern Conference to force a best-of-three play-in series.
