Beal says of fan incident: ‘Keep it about sports’

Bradley Beal, speaking Monday at the Washington Wizards‘ end-of-season availability, addressed the postgame incident with a fan in Orlando, Florida, last month that landed him under police investigation.

After a loss to the Orlando Magic, Beal and the Wizards were exiting the court and in the visitors’ tunnel headed to the locker room, when, according to a police report obtained by ESPN, an unidentified man remarked to Beal, “You made me lose $1,300, you f—.” Beal, according to the report, turned around and walked toward a friend of the man who made the comment and swatted his right hand toward him, knocking the man’s hat off and contacting the left side of his head.

“Nobody wants to lose money. I get it. If you keep it about sports, I’m all for it,” Beal said Monday. “But I think it’s when people start getting personal, talking about your family, talking about your character, your integrity towards the game. I think all of that, we can save it. We can really keep those comments to ourselves.”

Beal said he’s noticed a bit more nastiness related to sports gambling in the past few years.

“I understand. I go to casinos, I gamble, I understand that. But I also understand it’s probably a 99% chance I’m going to lose,” he said. “I’m not sitting here about to get angry at the dealer or angry at everybody else.”

Beal also joked, after a few questions about his future with the Wizards, that the reporters in the room were trying to push him out.

“If I wanted to leave, you guys would definitely hear and know that Beal wants to leave,” he said.

But he was open about his frustration after a season in which Washington went 35-47 and missed the playoffs.

“I’m definitely frustrated,” he said. “I’m also at peace with where I am and who we are and what we need to do to be better. There’s nothing I can do. I can’t control it, and I’m not going to sit here and cuss everybody out. We know where we failed and how we got to get better. We have to do so.”

Asked whether he expects to be back with the Wizards, he said he can’t foresee the future, but that yes, he does.

“Y’all acting like y’all trying to kick me out of here,” he joked.

In addition to Beal (who signed a max-value contract last offseason) saying he plans to stay the course in Washington, general manager Tommy Sheppard said the goal is to re-sign the other members of the Wizards’ key trio, Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma, both of whom have player options for next season.

But Sheppard, too, acknowledged what a disappointment this season was.

“I think Vegas preseason said we were going to win 35 games; we won 35 games. That’s disgusting to me,” Sheppard said. “I think internally we had much higher goals, but you can’t argue with your record. It is what it is. We’ve got to get better.”

Information from ESPN’s David Purdum and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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