Washington Wizards: Bradley Beal should let the Kent Bazemore beef die

Hearing that Kent Bazemore had anything to say about Bradley Beal was surprising. And then hearing what he actually said…wow. It’s a real shame the Washington Wizards don’t play the Golden State Warrior again this season.

Yesterday, Bazemore was asked about Stephen Curry’s impressive point totals before the Warriors’ matchup with the Utah Jazz. He had this to say…

"Forty-nine points in 29 minutes, though, that’s unreal…Then we got guys hurting hamstrings, trying to keep up."

It may seem like Bazemore is just hyping up his point guard, and that would be fine. But there was no mistaking who Bazemore was referring to when he mentioned guys hurting hamstrings. And he made that clear when he told reporters, “So, y’all got to do your research on that,” with a slight chuckle.

Bradley Beal isn’t letting Kent Bazemore off easy after taking a cheap shot at the Washington Wizards’ All-Star guard.

It was an unmistakable cheap shot fired at Bradley Beal, who missed the Wizards’ 125-124 loss to the Atlanta Hawks due to a hamstring injury. Beal will miss at least one more game before being reevaluated. Giving props to your point guard, fine. Taking shots at an injured opponent who’s basically been leading the league in scoring all season, not okay. It’s a terrible look for Bazemore, even if it was all in jest as he claimed just a few hours later. But there was one person who rightfully did not find it so funny. That person was Bradley Beal.

Not one to take away from his teammates’ shine, Beal was nice enough to wait until after Russell Westbrook broke the all-time triple-double record before turning to Bazemore and unloading the clip. Beal wanted ALL the smoke and berated Bazemore with a series of tweets. He told Bazemore to quit the subliminals, called Bazemore a lame, accused Bazemore of checking his stats, and told Bazemore to stay in his lane…among other things.

Beal wasn’t done after a night of working out his Twitter fingers. He slept on it and then kept on attacking, appearing on First Take and Dunk Bait, where he continued to blast Bazemore.

On the one hand, I get it. Bazemore took an obvious cheap shot at Beal while Beal is down. Beal has a right to be angry and should defend himself. Bench players talking like starters. We all hate it.

But at this point, it feels like a bit much. I mean, this is Kent Bazemore we’re talking about. Beal’s trainer Drew Hanlen put it best by reminding us that Beal averages more points per quarter than Bazemore does per game. Beal’s numbers speak for themselves. These two guys aren’t on the same level and never will be.

In my opinion, Beal went a bit overboard. And the fact that he keeps harping on it doesn’t look great, either. Credit whoever you want with saying it first — Homer, C.S. Lewis, Tywin Lannister — just make sure Beal hears these words of wisdom soon. ‘A Lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of sheep.’ Beal, the NBA’s second-leading scorer, is the lion. Bazemore, he’s the sheep.

This whole situation reminds me of Stanley Johnson, the former Detroit Pistons wing who claimed to be in LeBron James’ head during a first-round playoff series. James barely acknowledged Johnsons’ comments. No matter what Johnson thought at the time, he was not affecting James, who averaged 22.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 6.8 assists during the Cavaliers’ sweep of the Pistons.

James let his game do the talking. Beal should do the same. A tweet or two is warranted, but Bazemore doesn’t deserve a mini media tour from Beal. Beal should let this beef die. The next time he sees Bazemore on the court, though, all bets are off.