NBA Draft 2012: Bradley Beal Interview Transcript

NEWARK -- The Washington Wizards were kind enough to let Bradley Beal speak to the local media separately after he was made the No. 3 overall pick. Here's a transcript of his remarks.

How are you going to celebrate? Can't celebrate too much, but I'm going to spend some time with my family and friends that are here. I'm just soaking it in. It's my birthday on top of that, so it's the best birthday I've ever had by far. I'm really just enjoying it right now, but I can't celebrate too hard. I just got to get to work.

When did you know for sure the Wizards would pick you? We kind of had a clue a little bit. My agent and I had talked about how it would be 2, 3 or 4. Two, I was nervous, but then when there was applause, I was like, 'OK, it was a little accident.' But then 3, my name was called, and all those doubts went away. I'm glad I was a Wizards.

What was the uncertainty, with all those trade options, like? It's real tough because you don't know too much about them. You're going to a situation that you really don't have any control over in the draft. That's what kind of made me panic a little bit, because there may be a trade, or something. You don't know what's going to happen. Nothing happened yet that I know of, and so I'm glad to be a Wizard.

Do you feel pressure to be a scorer given this roster? Pressure, not so much. I'm not going to come in and force the issue. Whatever the team wants me to do, that's what I'm going to do. I'm just going to play my role and make as much of an impact as I can.

On his suit: My agent decided on it. He really did most of the work. I just went along with it. It looked pretty good. I just got to choose the tie. He picked out everything else. I had the shoe choice too.

How does your style fit in with the Wizards? John Wall plays fast. That's the way I'm playing, and that's the way I've played all my life, especially at Florida. He loves to get up and down, create for others and create for himself. I really hope I can play alongside him.

Which guy guards the point guard? I don't know. I guess we'll switch off every now and then. But I think that's going to be a good thing for us and probably a bad thing for the other team hopefully. We can create mismatches as well, both with how we handle the ball and how we play off each other. Whatever happens, whatever coach wants us to do.

The frontcourt is deep, what about the backcourt? I think the backcourt is pretty solid now. Hopefully, I can make an impact, and we also have John Wall, Jordan Crawford, two great guards who can put the ball in the hole pretty good. Hopefully, I can give them an extra push and help us as well as our frontcourt, which is also pretty good.

Did you think about the Cavaliers vs. the Wizards at all? A little bit, but I didn't worry too much because it's really out of my control. There's nothing I can do about it. Wherever I landed, I was going to be happy.

When did you realize you could go pro one day? Probably at the end of my high school career. People were always telling me the potential I had, and college coaches were always telling me that stuff. I really took it upon myself to stay focused, stay grounded. I always wanted to keep getting better and try to be the best player I could be. I didn't know it was going to come this fast, but here I am.

What did you learn from some of your struggles at Florida? Sometimes, it's not your fault. You don't have control over whether the ball goes in or not. If you did, I don't think anybody would miss. But at the same time, it's really just staying focused and having fun, doing other things to help your team in the game. I tried to help the team win. That's the most important thing.

What do you know about other D.C. athletes? I don't know anything about Bryce Harper. I know who RGIII is. I've HEARD of Bryce Harper, but RGIII, I hope he can help out the Redskins.