The short answer to the question posed in the headline is Yes. 

Yes, Bradley Beal did slap Frank Vogel's hand away during the Phoenix Suns' Game 4 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, which unceremoniously ended Phoenix's 2024 NBA Playoff run. There's just no way around it. And while I'm sure that Bradley Beal would insist that there was no animosity directed toward his head coach as he trotted off the floor, the video doesn't lie. The way that Beal smacked Vogel's hand away as he trotted off the court was noticeably different than the way he dapped up each of the Suns assistant coaches who were seated on the bench.

To quote the great Bruno Mars… Don't believe me? Just watch.

Bradley Beal finished with 9 points on for 4-13 shooting in Game 4. He was limited to just 31 minutes in the game due to foul trouble, which was why Vogel subbed him out at the 5:52 mark in the video above. It was an unspectacular final effort in the series from Beal, who after Game 3 claimed that he had never been swept in his life and he'd be damned if it happened against Minnesota.

That's exactly what happened against Minnesota.

This was not the first time during this 1st Round series that Bradley Beal and Frank Vogel have had a tense, public exchange caught on camera. During Game 2, the two appeared to have a heated exchange during a timeout, which after the game Beal predictably brushed off as nothing, according to Shams Charania and Doug Haller of The Athletic.

“It was not between us two, it was just kind of like what was going on in the game,’’ Beal said. “The refs. Our flow. Our defense was bad. I’m just like, ‘What are we doing?’’’

That's the big question that the Phoenix Suns need to ask themselves this offseason: What are we doing?

Phoenix is slated to pay Beal $151 million over the course of the next three seasons, which is just an insane amount of money for an inconsistent third option who is about to turn 31 years old and was limited to 53 games this season. Amazingly, that was actually Beal's highest total in the last three years. To make matters even worse, in addition to paying Beal $50 million next season, the Suns are paying Kevin Durant and Devin Booker a combined $100 million next year as well. That's $150 million for three players who managed to lead the Suns to a 6-seed and zero postseason wins. And remember, Suns owner Mat Ishbia sacrificed nearly all of the Suns' future draft capital to put this team together.

Of course, it seems rather predictable how all of this will eventually play out. Frank Vogel will be made the scapegoat and lose his job. A new coach will come in, and ahead of the 2024-25 season, many fans and analysts will once again talk themselves into the Phoenix Suns being a legitimate contender to win the Western Conference.

Don't believe me? Just watch.