Bradley Beal's poor performance in the Washington Wizards' recent 86-73 victory over the Chicago Bulls may have been a result of lingering problems with his injured right wrist. As Michael Lee reported in The Washington Post on January 28:
After the Wizards defeated the Chicago Bulls, 86-73, on Saturday night, rookie Bradley Beal had a new accessory to go with his post-game wardrobe: a soft, protective brace with Velcro straps on his right wrist.
"My wrist is bothering me," Beal said as he held the cast, "but it was a great team win for us. And I'm going to do whatever it takes to help the team win."
The wrist was injured during Washington's victory over the Denver Nuggets on January 18. Beal has used protective tape on his ailing wrist during shootarounds but does not want to use it during games. Lee added:
During the morning shoot-around in Utah, Beal wore some protective tape over his wrist, but he has refused to wear it in games after feeling that it contributed to a poor first half against the Los Angeles Clippers.
"It's too uncomfortable," Beal, 19, said of the tape. "It's resisting my release and the way I shoot it and it's still not 100 percent the way I want to shoot it, but I'm going to fight through and tough it out. I just got to stay healthy, as best as I can. The trainers are doing a good job of helping me, giving me treatment and things like that. I've got to keep taking care of my body."
It's understandable that Beal wouldn't want to do anything that could prevent him from contributing to the team, especially considering how much momentum the Wizards have built up. That said, the 11-31 Wizards are playing almost entirely for pride at this point and anything that could curtail Beal's development and confidence during what has been an up and down rookie season needs to be treated with a lot of caution.