Wizards Guard Bradley Beal Says Team is 'Making Steps' Towards Contention

At the end of his career Washington Wizards guard, Bradley Beal is going to go down as one of the best to suit up for his franchise.

Unfortunately, he may also be one of the least successful from a team-winning perspective.

Beal recently told Andscape that he sometimes envisions his jersey being retired by the franchise he's spent his entire career with.

Alongside names like Earl Monroe and Gus Johnson just to name a couple.

"But those guys won," Beal says. "They won a championship. They brought that to the city, and that's something I want. Obviously, I've done a lot in this organization. But at the same time, nothing is bigger than winning a (championship)."

In his 11th season in the NBA, Beal has appeared in 45 career playoff games, but he's never advanced beyond the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

And as he gets older, and the time remaining to reach the pinnacle of his sports starts to grow shorter and shorter, he admits he sometimes falls victim to looking at greener pastures.

"I'm patient," Beal says. "But there comes a time where you have to be a little selfish and draw a line in the sand...I have thoughts in my head but at the same time I stay in the moment...don't get caught up in the noise and just go from there."

Don't worry Wizards fans, Beal isn't pushing his way out of the franchise just yet.

In fact, he says the team is building, and that he has faith in general manager Tommy Sheppard to continue putting pieces in place to make Washington competitive.

"We're making steps to compete, and we're doing it on a nightly basis," says Beal. "Shepp is making moves to improve the team. So, all I can do is sit back, trust him, trust his process, work with what we are working with...We're trying to build on it. We're trying to do that here."

Still, anytime a star player admits to thinking about playing elsewhere in order to reach his career goals, its unsettling.

But time hasn't run out yet.

Not for Beal, Sheppard, and not for the Wizards.

Here's hoping the right moves get made, for Beal and the franchise's sake, before it's too late and other NBA grass becomes too green for him to ignore any longer.

Find David Harrison on Twitter @DHarrison82

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