Among the oldest clichés in the language of basketball, which we all use today, is “he / she is a bucket”. In English, this means that the person can score at will, against any defense, anywhere on the ground.
But in the NBA, where the defense is not, to speak with charity, at the top of the list of priorities, scorers have never been more important.
It is a good time to be Bradley Beal.
The Wizards’ guard is at its peak. He is, to speak another old cliché, a “three-tier” scorer, equally indefensible in 3-point, mid-range and edge shots. Years of off-season work in handling the ball and in the weight room have left him now able to do much more than score for 3 seconds, as he did at the beginning of his career, playing against John Wall.
He is a three-time All-Star, who will start for the first time on Sunday night in Atlanta, at Team Durant.