You don't attain the level of success Bradley Beal has without supreme confidence in yourself.
DEVENEY: Time for Celtics to let Jaylen Brown loose
The 23-year-old Wizards guard was a McDonald's All-American and one-and-done lottery pick out of Florida. This past season, he averaged 23.1 points while shooting 48.2 percent from the field, both career highs, while helping John Wall and the rest of his teammates advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs, where they were defeated in seven games by the Celtics.
According to Beal, Washington's departure from the postseason was a blessing in disguise for LeBron James and the Cavaliers. In an interview with CSN Mid-Atlantic, Beal said, though Cleveland lost home court in the Eastern Conference Finals as a result of the Celtics' semifinals win, avoiding a meeting with his No. 4 Wizards was in the Cavs' best interest. Maybe, that's why they weren't to keen on securing the No. 1 seed late in the regular season, he suggested.
"Cleveland didn’t want to see us. I always said that. I felt like that’s the reason they didn’t play us in the second round," Beal said.
Sure, the Wizards might've gained some respect from the Cavs during the regular season, especially after a 140-135 loss in February that required a fadeaway 3-pointer off the glass from James, who coincidentally defended by Beal, at the end of regulation to force overtime. Washington still finished 1-2 in three games against Cleveland.
That was then. This is now and the playoff Cavs are nothing like the bunch that played below .500 ball after the all-star break. Here's the thing, if the defending champions just trounced the squad that put yours out the postseason on its own floor to extend its playoff win streak to 12 games, you probably, just maybe, should be quiet about what your team could've and would've done.
In the words of Chris Brown, "I don't see how you can hate from outside of the club. You can't even get in."