Bradley Beal made his return to Phoenix on Thursday night and it was not a memorable event. Beal, who spent the previous two seasons as a member of the Suns, left the organization after a buyout this past summer and found new digs with the Clippers. After being brought into Phoenix via a blockbuster trade back in 2023—and with the Suns harboring honest championship aspirations—things didn’t go particularly well.
So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the home crowd gave Beal the business in the form of some loud booing. Beal answered those boos by going 2-for-14 from the field en route to five points in 20 minutes of action.
After sustaining the 115–102 loss, Beal had a fairly short and to-the-point response to his icy welcome.
“You got fans that didn’t like me here, you got fans that liked I was here,” Beal said. “You can’t please everybody. I found that out at a very young age. You’ll drive yourself crazy trying to make everybody happy. I’ve enjoyed my time here, I enjoyed playing for this organization. They made a decision, you move on. Is what it is. Don’t have any hard feelings. People are gonna boo. It’s part of the game, it’s part of being a fan.”
He’s right. No matter how great a player is there is going to be a sub-section of fans who want more. And Beal did not perform to the level where the average fan would be content. It was probably quite apparent to everyone involved here what the vibe would be like for his return. Fans who are still salty about how things went in Phoenix get the last laugh for a night. They can point to the early standings where the Suns are actually ahead of the Clippers.
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