Former Florida and current Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal won’t be joining his team in Orlando when the 2019-20 NBA season restarts later this month. After consulting with team doctors, Beal, who suffered a torn rotator cuff injury, agreed with the team to miss the remainder of the season.
Beal said the decision was made with his longterm health in mind.
“This was a difficult decision and one that I did not take lightly as the leader of this team,” said Beal. “I wanted to help my teammates compete for a playoff spot in Orlando, but also understand that this will be best for all of us in the long term. I appreciate the support of my teammates, the fans and the entire organization and look forward to returning next season to continue the progress we have made.”
He originally injured his shoulder earlier in the season, and his symptoms worsened during the hiatus. He was rehabilitating with the intention of returning, but he will instead continue rehabilitation throughout the summer.
General Manager Tommy Sheppard said the decision was mutual between Beal and the team.
“Bradley did everything possible to be ready to play, but after closely monitoring his individual workouts we came to the conclusion that it was best for him to sit out the upcoming games in Orlando and avoid the risk of further injury,” said Wizards General Manager Tommy Sheppard. “Although he was able to play through the majority of the season with the injury, the layoff from March until now did not leave any of us feeling comfortable that he would have enough time to be ready to perform at the extremely high level we are all accustomed to seeing and agreed that not participating in the games in Orlando was the right decision.”
When the season hiatus began on March 12, Beal was averaging 30.5 points and 6.1 assists. One of the 22 teams selected for the restart, the Wizards are currently 24-40 and hold the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference. Starting on the outside looking in, Washington will vie for a playoff spot during the seeding rounds, though it will have to do it without the NBA’s second-leading scorer in Beal.