Bradley Beal’s consecutive streak of 194 games has come to an end. This past Thursday night, Beal exited with a lower leg injury in the Washington Wizards’ 132-102 loss to the Detroit Pistons. This was Beal’s first game missed since April 12, 2017.
Speaking with The Atheltic, Beal opened up at length about his injury and his reaction to missing his first game in 32 and a half months.
But the injury is meaningful — and not just because of the Wizards’ best player, someone who must’ve pushed back as much as socially acceptable, didn’t play during a loss scored with the sounds of basketballs clanking rims over and over again.
Beal’s streak is over.
“When you have a streak like that, it says a lot about the player and taking care of his body, not being injured, playing through small knicks and knacks that players tend to have throughout this long season,” Isaiah Thomas said. “But that’s a hell of a streak. You don’t see that in today’s game with load management and guys sitting out when they don’t need to be.
“Shoot, that’s a hell of a streak.”
Beal’s wasn’t the NBA’s longest consecutive-games streak. That accomplishment belongs to Utah’s Joe Ingles, who’s gone for 335 and counting.
But before Saturday, Beal hadn’t sat since the final game of the 2016-17 season, which he missed only for load management purposes — though it was before what’s such an abundant term today had entered the NBA’s vernacular. Now, after falling only 12-and-a-half seasons short of A.C. Green’s consecutive games played record, he’ll have to start a new one.
In an age where nutrition and taking care of your body are now at a premium, it’s great that Beal takes pride in his streak. Players such as Kawhi Leonard rely on load management to get them through. Beal obviously doesn’t. While this injury is a setback, it’s possible Beal has another streak in him.
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