Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal will not be part of the U.S. basketball team at the Tokyo Olympics after being placed in health and safety protocols, the squad announced Thursday.
Beal entered the protocols on Wednesday night in Las Vegas where the team is training.
“Since he was a little kid, this has been a dream of his,” U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said in a press conference on Thursday. “He was playing great, he was having fun, being a big part of us coming together chemistry-wise … it’s devastating.”
As of Thursday afternoon, the NBA All-Star’s only public comment on the turn of events came earlier in the day when he posted a black screen with two sad face emojis on Instagram.
The St. Louis, Missouri, native made the U.S. team for the first time and was set to become not only the first active Wizards player to make the team but a key contributor and scorer alongside Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant.
Another member of the U.S. team, the Detroit Pistons’ Jerami Grant, was also placed in the health and safety protocols as a precaution.
Players and their family members have been tested daily during their training camp in Las Vegas. Many have family with them now since those loved ones will not be allowed to travel to Tokyo for the Olympics because of virus-related restrictions there. Mask-wearing has been required and many of the same rules and policies that players had to adhere to during the NBA season has carried over to the U.S. camp.
Beal played in all three exhibitions for the U.S., including a 17-point performance against Argentina on Tuesday night.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted that Beal will be replaced on the roster.
Popovich said there’s no perfect replacement for Beal, who was the league’s No. 2 scorer this year behind the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, who is not on the Olympics team.
“There’s no next Bradley Beal, just like there’s no next Damian Lillard or next (Durant),” Popovich said. “All these guys are different. So, maybe a utility infielder of some sort.”
Some players that could replace Beal on the roster include the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young, the Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant or the Miami Heat’s Duncan Robinson.
But Morant took to Twitter shortly after the announcement that Beal couldn’t play and appeared to take his name out of the mix.
“Wasn’t hitting me up before, don’t hit me up now … I’m cool,” Morant tweeted with a handshake emoji on Thursday afternoon.
Some of Beal’s Olympic teammates aren’t worried about who will replace him, but how he’s doing physically.
“A dude just got COVID,” Miami Heat forward Bam Adebayo. “You don’t really think about who’s next when somebody catches COVID … you think about how they’re doing, what’s their symptoms and what they’re going through.”
Warriors’ forward Draymond Green said he thinks Beal should still receive a gold medal if the team wins in Tokyo because of the sacrifices and commitment he made to the Olympic team this summer.
“To see that opportunity taken away, you can only sympathize with Brad in understanding what’s taken place the last 17-18 months,” Green said. “If we can accomplish our ultimate goal, which is to go out there and win a gold medal, you hope he still gets that gold medal because he did make that commitment to his team, to his country.”
The U.S. has two more exhibitions remaining — Friday against Australia and Sunday against Spain. Only seven of its 12 players eligible to play on Friday because the Milwaukee Bucks’ Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday and the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker are still playing in the NBA Finals.
The team is scheduled to fly to the Olympics on Monday. The U.S. opens group play on July 25 against France.
Tokyo reported its highest number of new COVID-19 cases in almost six months on Wednesday — a bad sign with the Olympics set to open in just over a week. The 1,149 new cases reported in Tokyo on Wednesday was the highest one-day total since Jan. 22, and numbers have been surging in the city for nearly a month.
This article is based in part on wire service reports.
