The Washington Wizards have not had the best start to the 2020-21 NBA season, and at the All-Star break they sit at 14-20 and 12th in the Eastern Conference.

But is a beautiful relationship starting to form between All-Star Bradley Beal and triple-double machine and former MVP in point guard Russell Westbrook?

It would seem so.

During Monday's SiriusXM NBA Radio show with host Brian Geltzeiler, the Wizards star broke down his full opinion on Westbrook's arrival in DC and what he has meant to the team thus far:

“For me, it's seeing how he brings it every single day. As a leader. As a player. As a father. As a man. Like, he's the best teammate probably I've ever had, and just in terms of leadership, probably one of the best leaders I've been around. Because he holds himself accountable. He holds himself to a certain standard.”

 

Beal saying “probably” is easily an homage to his former backcourt buddy in John Wall, who was part of the deal to bring Westbrook to the nation's capital. The two are undoubtedly close friends who built culture and camaraderie during their time together with the Wizards.

But there's no question Beal is flourishing alongside Westbrook with the Wizards, as most NBA players do.

Beal is in the middle of a career season, where he currently leads the NBA in scoring (32.9 PPG) behind a personal-best 48.2% shooting from the floor, 90.3% shooting from the stripe and a strong .530 effective field goal percentage. He's also averaging a career-best mark in rebounds per game (5.4), which is simply just an effort stat, and something Beal even referred to in his Monday interview:

“I looked at [Westbrook] and I was like, ‘Okay, well, I can do that. I can play hard every single night. I can give my teammates my all every night. I can be locked in to make sure that my body's ready to go, that I'm mentally ready to go. I think that's a true testament to who he is. Everybody had their opinions of Russ coming into the year, if he's a good teammate, bad teammate, whatever. But he's been nothing but awesome for us. He's been nothing but great.”

Westbrook, for some reason, gets a tough call from NBA fans and hot-take analysts as a “stat-padder” who doesn't improve teammates. And yet, he's still averaging 20.3/9.7/9.8 at 32 years old, with his free-throw shooting (currently at a career-low 58.3%) his biggest detriment. Sure, his shooting percentages are down, in general. And maybe he doesn't play with the same full pace he did as a 22-year-old first-time All-Star.

But Beal appreciates him, and it's changing his game.