One of the most popular clichés in the popular language of basketball, which we all use these days, is “he / she is a bucket”. In English, this means that the person can score at will, against any defense, anywhere on the floor.
But in the NBA, where the defense is, so to speak, not at the top of the list of priorities, the scorers have never been more important.
This is a good time to be Bradley Beal.
The Wizard’s Guardian is at the top. He is, to trot another hoary cliché, a “three-level” marker, equally unguarded at 3-pointers, midrange shots and at the edge. The years of off-season work on handling the ball and the weight room have now allowed him to do much more than see 3s, as he did earlier in his career, playing outside of John Wall.
He is a three-time All-Star who will be in the front row on Sunday night in Atlanta with the Durant team.