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Washington Wizards All-Star Bradley Beal got to spend some time over the weekend watching LeBron James and getting an up-close-and-person look at how the best player in the NBA goes about his business.
Beal was on Team LeBron for the All-Star Game, so he got to see James work out, prepare for a game, and see all the things that make James tick. He told Candace Buckner of the Washington Post that the experience was one he would never forget.
#Wizards all-star Bradley Beal knows it was only for a short while, but being on Team LeBron gave him even more respect for James.
“He’s an unbelievable teammate, first and foremost. Being on his team for two days… that was an unbelievable experience."— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) February 21, 2018
Beal did not stop there with the praise he gave his single-serving teammate. As he watched James go through all his basketball preparations, Beal was practically mesmerized by what he saw in the Cleveland Cavaliers star. Per Buckner:
Bradley Beal on LeBron James:
"To see his preparation, his focus, his mentality, what he does to take care of his body before and after games. That’s a true testament of a Hall of Famer and one of the best ever to play the game…"
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) February 21, 2018
Sound familiar? Those types of comments Beal made about James are strikingly similar to those made from players who spent any amount of time with Kobe Bryant in any basketball setting. Comments mostly revolved around how hard Bryant works and how he prepares for games.
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Bryant and James are not the same types of players and have both had very different careers. But the face that the way they prepare for games and their mentality toward basketball are analogous is significant.
There are a bevy of stories chronicling Bryant's almost-insane work ethic and his ultra competitiveness in practice and in games. He was thought to have a killer instinct no one else had seen since Michael Jordan.
James, on the other hand, is widely considered not to have that killer instinct, even though he is about as competitive a player as you will find in the NBA today. Perhaps both he and Bryant have that instinct, but it just manifests itself in different ways.
The work James does rubbing off on younger players can only be good for those guys and the entire NBA moving forward.
