Mike Budenholzer's brief time as coach of the Phoenix Suns came to an end on Monday as the franchise fired the veteran coach after one season at the helm. As is often the case when a coach is dismissed following a disappointing season, reports almost immediately began to emerge that painted a picture of how and why things went wrong over the course of the year. One such report does not shine a positive light on Bradley Beal.
Per national NBA insider Chris Haynes and Phoenix radio host John Gambadoro, Budenholzer asked Beal to model his game after another superstar who sacrificed opportunities for the greater good— Jrue Holiday. Holiday went from the Milwaukee Bucks' second-leading scorer to the Boston Celtics' fourth-highest scorer in 2023–24. Instead of bemoaning a lack of touches, Holiday maximized his opportunities while focusing on impacting other aspects of the game. It's the most recent (and one of the most successful) examples of a star player accepting a lesser role in order to win, and it worked out as Holiday earned his second ring with Boston last spring, along with another gold medal in the summer Olympics.
Beal, who averaged 17.0 points per game in '24–25 while making a whopping $50 million, was apparently displeased by this request. Haynes reported it was not "well-received."
"League sources told me, early in the season, coach Budenholzer met with Bradley Beal," Haynes said. "He told Bradley Beal he wanted him to be the Jrue Holiday of this team. Holiday is a player who might become a Hall of Famer. But you've got to understand, when you're talking to a guy of Bradley Beal's caliber, it wasn't well-received. You know the type of player Bradley Beal is. You know how he's made a name for himself in this league, playing his way. To ask him to shift his game, to alter it, and to say Jrue Holiday on top of that, somebody who coach Budenholzer has won a championship in Milwaukee, it wasn't well-received."
On the Haynes Briefs Show, inside the Phoenix Suns’ turmoil and incidents that led to Mike Budenholzer losing the team and ultimately his job. Also a list of coaching candidates Suns are expected to look at. Subscribe. #haynesbriefs
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Gambadoro confirmed Haynes's report, while saying Beal felt disrespected by being asked to play like another player.
"I know about this story, it is true—Beal told Bud, 'Don't ever disrespect me like that. Don't ever tell me to play like another player,'" Gambadoro wrote on social media.
One would think Holiday, with all his talent and willingness to do anything to win, would be an ideal example for just about any NBA player to follow if they, too, are interested in winning games. Not for Beal, it would seem.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Report: Bradley Beal Felt Disrespected by Suns Coach Asking Him to Play Like Jrue Holiday.
