Player handwriting | Bradley Beale Diary: It's a huge relief to be able to get back to health
(Originally published on January 24 by Andspace reporter Marc J. Spears and does not necessarily reflect the views of the translator.) ）
SETTSDALE, Ariz. — Good luck with Bradley Beal, Bradley Beal is finally back healthy in the Sun.
Due to back and ankle injuries, the guard missed 24 of the first 42 regular-season games in his first year with the Suns. However, Beal now looks set to be named to his third All-Star team in January, where he averaged 20.3 points per game and scored a season-high 37 points against the Lakers on Jan. 12. While Beal acknowledges that he may not be selected to this year's All-Star team due to injury and is not eligible for an end-of-season award, he is excited to stay healthy and make his own contribution to the rising Suns.
"It's a relief that I'm finally back healthy, and I'm excited about that and it's cleared up one of my big concerns. Bill said in an interview last week. "As a newcomer to a new team, as an investment in this team, you want to be reused by the team, show your quality and contribute to the win. The start of the season was also difficult for me, now that I'm healthy and everything is over, now I can look forward. I feel great in every game and I'm grateful to be on the pitch and now my mentality has changed like I'm grateful for everything in life. ”
'But I'm ashamed of the injury and it's definitely a mental challenge for me. It makes me strong and I am grateful to be able to play at such a high level. ”
After the Wizards traded Beal to the Suns in June 2023, Beal moved to Phoenix with his wife, Kamia, and three young sons. Beal admits that for the first time in his career, he joined a team of championship contenders, teamed up by superstars Durant and Booker, as well as championship coach Vogel. The Suns have never won an NBA championship yet.
During the 2023-24 season, the 30-year-old Beal has documented his life in Phoenix every month, including Dreamcatcher, Carter, Trae Young, McCollum, Van Vleet, Fox, Cunningham, Wiseman and Josh Jackson all appeared on his previous videos.
The 1.93-meter-tall and 94-kilogram player averaged 18 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4 assists in 19 games this season. The Suns also played together in the away game against the Mavericks with the Big Three of Durant, Booker and Beal.
In his diary, Beal talked about his joy of playing with Durant and Booker and being a championship contender, as well as his vision of competing in the All-Star Three-Point Contest, his hope that he would be able to play for Team USA at the Olympics this summer after missing the last Olympics due to COVID, meeting actor Emma Stone on the road against the Lakers, his pre-game routine, and returning to the Wizards' home game for the first time on Feb. 5.
(The following is the details of Bill's diary)
It's fun to play with the Suns, it's a team that has a chance to win at a high level and the championship is our goal. Basketball will take your mental state to the next level, but it's not easy because you're being targeted every day.
You have to make sure that you stay focused, that you're ready to go, and that you have the opportunity to shoot every game. It's very competitive in the league right now, I'm in an unbelievable environment and I've learned a lot from my team-mates and the team staff and it's fun to play with my team-mates. I never took anything for granted, not once. So, I'm grateful to be to the Sun, I'm excited about what we can do and we're still improving.
I would say that this season I have a lot more confidence because I know we have a good chance to fight for the title, given our squad and the staff, given everything we have. When I was in Washington, I always had a goal of winning as many championships as I could, but when I was with the Wizards, getting to the playoffs, getting to the second round, and hopefully reaching the division finals, I did it one step at a time, and there was always a stepping stone every time I went forward. Now we're trying to make that happen in Phoenix, so it's two completely different feelings.
We're still figuring it out, but it's been an interesting process. Everyone is making sacrifices and doing some dirty work. We played well against some of the best teams and it's fun to be healthy and I'm happy to be back on the pitch.
Against the Lakers, I didn't want the world to notice me, I just played and enjoyed every second of the game. The Crypto Center Arena is one of the best courses, so I'm going to embrace every moment here. I'm always saying that I don't want to take all of this for granted, especially after I've missed so many games and the impact on the team and myself. Injuries make you cherish everything more.
It was my night, I took on a role on the team, Durant told me to keep going, he kept feeding me shells. The whole team is united. It's an unbelievable feeling, it boosts our confidence and boosts the morale of the whole team.
I also met Emma Stone. I didn't notice it at first, until Booker turned around and said hello to Emma, and she patted us, and I was like, "Oh my God, that's Emma Stone." I'm a huge fan of her, it was a cool moment, this is Hollywood, and it's so cool to have her support.
This year's All-Star Weekend in Indiana was going to be cold, and I guess the only way I could be an All-Star was to go to the Three-Point Contest. But with my three-point shooting percentage (39.2%), I don't know if I can make it. Maybe I can go, but that might be my only option. If I can't make it, I'm going to enjoy All-Star Weekend.
I've had some bad performances in the three-point contest in the past, one year I've been runner-up, and some years I've been underwhelming. I feel like I'm going to have to win once, and it's like you're on an island by yourself, and it's all dark, and you feel like it's going on at lightning speed. It's nerve-wracking, but it's fun to compete in this environment, something you've always dreamed of as a kid.
We're going back to Washington, D.C., and I'm looking forward to seeing my brother and nephew — my brother had a baby last year — as well as all my family and close friends I've known in recent years. Obviously, they were all a part of my life from the moment I arrived in Washington, and I knew it was going to be a special moment, and so was it for each of them. I'm not very nervous (back in Washington), but I've been talking about it weeks in advance, and who knows if I'm nervous or not?
Maybe I'll be a little emotional then, but not now. Maybe it was when the Wizards showed me a tribute video? Probably. But it depends on when they're putting that video, which is a very crucial point. If they had played this video in the middle of the game, it might have poked me. If it's a pre-match broadcast, it probably doesn't affect me a little bit because it allows me to focus more on the game. If the Wizards had shown that video before the game, it might have made me more emotional in the game, but that feeling might only be known if I experienced it myself.
The fans in Washington have always been nice to me, they have always supported me, they love me, they have encouraged me, they have inspired me, and they have criticized me when necessary. I love it all, I love the fans there, they always respect me and treat me like one of them. I've always been grateful to them and I've been doing everything I can to give back to the community and show my respect and love to the fans as much as I can.
I felt calm and at ease when I left the city, and my favorite thing was not leaving the place in a hostile way. No one is hostile to me, and nothing causes me friction when I leave here, which makes you feel relaxed and calm.
As for the previous Tokyo Olympics, oh my God, this sentence still haunts my heart, and I still can't let go of that stone in my heart. You know, I've been dreaming about all of this since I was a kid, and now I have the opportunity to make it happen. Of course, everything happens for a reason, COVID has had a big impact on me, and in fact it was the first time I had it, and it kept me out of the Olympics, but I'm glad that the U.S. team won the gold medal in the end. It's funny because every time I meet Coach Popovich, he says to me, "Damn, I don't get a chance to coach you." "So going to Paris is definitely a goal for me, and hopefully I can be selected for the national team and represent the United States in Paris.
Bam Adebayo is my brother, both on and off the field in the United States, we were all on the squad for the Tokyo Olympics, we were all playing in the Southeast Division, I've always been a fan of him, and it's always exciting to play against him because Bam Adebayo doesn't care who you are, he's going to play hard. We had a bit of interaction in the game and as soon as he scored a goal or defended a goal, he patted himself on the back. I had a lot of fun with him and he knew I would do weight training too. I may not lift as much weight as he does, but I'm also a gym trainer.
I bought a home in Arizona and it was a lot more expensive than I thought it would be. Honestly, it's a lot like California, housing prices are very expensive, but the state taxes are low, so I like it. State taxes are low, but house prices are very high.
On the way to the home game, I always feel a little bit stressed. At first I would do a light meditation on myself, be quiet, and simply go through the game in my mind. When I'm driving, I just go to enjoy the drive, enjoy the scenery on the road, and listen to music. So, in some ways, these are my pre-race routines.
I put my favorite music in a playlist, and what songs I listen to depends on my mood, sometimes I listen to rap, sometimes I listen to R&B, sometimes I listen to the Gospels, and sometimes I don't listen to music. It depends on my mood.
Arizona is beautiful, and it's unreal to see a mountain in your own backyard, it's the coolest thing in the world. Clear skies, not many tall buildings blocking the view of the mountains, but there is not much grass here, the weather is very hot, and my dog suffers because there is no grass here.
I have two dogs, a Kasro and a Rottweir and they are both my treasures. I used to have three baby sharks in Washington, and I used to have a big bathtub at home, but you can't move them here, and to move that thing here, you're going to need a Noah's Ark and a private jet.
原文：Marc J. Spears
Compiler: JayChan