Throughout his 8-year NBA career, Bradley Beal has only been an All-Star twice. He’s established himself as one of the best shooting guards in the league but has seen no real reward for it. Having his entire career on the Wizards, he hasn’t seen much regular season or playoff success, with his best regular-season finish being 4th in 2016-17 and the Wizards not getting past the East Conference Finals 3 times. But that’s not to say he’s not a good player.
Rather than his whole career though, I’m going to focus on this past season and why Bradley Beal wasn’t an All-Star. First of all, he averaged over 30 points a game this season, so that in itself should be enough to be an All-Star without a doubt. But on top of this, he also averaged 6.1 assists per game as a shooting guard, which is very impressive. So I personally think he should’ve been an All-Star but let’s evaluate why he wasn’t.
First of all, at the time of selecting the All-Stars, the Wizards had a record of 16-31 which was one of the worst in the league. But this argument can quickly be dismissed by the fact that Trae Young started for the East in the All-Star Game and the Hawks had the second-worst record in the league at the time.
Also, Bradley Beal is not that popular with NBA fans, and they make up 50% of the vote. I think a big part of this reason is the Wizards not having many Nationally televised games, so NBA fans do not watch Beal play as much as other stars. On player voting though, Bradley Beal was actually ahead of Trae Young for guards in the East, only being outdone by Kemba Walker. And the players will have the best idea of who the best players are, as they are obviously playing against them. But it is important for the fans to have their say though, as sometimes the most exciting players to watch are not the best players. And after all, the NBA is televised for entertainment purposes, and giving fans a say in the All-Star game keeps them engaged.
So I certainly think Bradley Beal should’ve been an All-Star this year, but there are snubs every year so this is nothing new. However, I don’t believe a player has ever averaged 30 points a game and not been an All-Star. All we can hope is that Beal gets his redemption this season.
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