Phoenix Suns' Bradley Beal reveals he may have surgery this offseason
By Luke Duffy
It has not been a good week on the injury front for the Phoenix Suns. Just as they got Bradley Beal back from a hamstring issue, the trio of Devin Booker, Royce O'Neale and Jusuf Nurkic all went down with various issues in Saturday's tough loss to the Houston Rockets.
Luckily for the team, Nurkic was back the following night to put up the most rebounds in franchise history. Unfortunately for the Suns, that came in another loss, this time to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The neck sprain he suffered against the Rockets hopefully not going to hamper him too much going forward.
Booker and O'Neale both rolled their ankles on each other - and while O'Neale played on - it does not look as good for Booker.
He looks set to miss around a week to 10 days with the gnarly ankle sprain he suffered - and although the x-ray afterwards came back negative - the reaction of Booker in the moment makes that initial evaluation appear optimistic. The last thing then that the Suns needed, was any more bodies going down.
Which will have made Beal's latest comments about his own health status something that fans just don't want to hear. Not only has he only played 32 games all season for the team, he was needlessly ejected against the Rockets when they needed him the most as well. Beal's nose has given him trouble since breaking it earlier in the season, which is why he may go under the knife this summer.
"I was instructed to wear the mask. My nose was ok, I don't feel any pain or anything - I still have to get my septum realigned and I think I'll do that after the season. I still have a little trouble breathing out of the right nostril but I'm good for the most part. It doesn't hurt."
- Bradley Beal
Beal was initially referring to the fact that he hasn't worn the protective mask he had been wearing for the nose break in the two games since coming back from the hamstring issue. That's great to hear, but less brilliant is the fact he still can't breath properly out of his right nostril. As anybody with the same issue will tell you, that can have an impact when you're playing pickup, never mind the NBA.
Going for surgery - albeit what seems to be a routine one that won't cause him to miss any time next season - just isn't a good look either. Beal is 30-years-old, yet the combination of back, nose, knee and hamstring issues that have caused him to miss so much time already persist. He's gotten a reputation as a guy who goes down with these unfortunate knocks.
This despite being such an ironman earlier in this career, playing every regular season game from 2017-2019. He was an All-Star on both occasions as well, an accolade that he has never felt further away from achieving again. At a time when so many are going down and the team can't catch a break, the last thing the Suns needed to hear is Beal is likely going for surgery this offseason.