- Wizards star Bradley Beal, who signed a five-year max extension this summer, says there’s one more box to check off in his career — to show that he’s a “winner,” Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington writes. “I’ve shown I can score with the best of them, I’ve shown I can be an All-Star, I’ve shown I can be an All-NBA player,” he said. “I’ve checked every box. Now I have to win and be a winner. That’s my final box that I want to check and will check.”
- Wizards president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard said the team’s offseason additions should make the club tougher and more tenacious, according to Bijan Todd of NBC Sports Washington. “What happens is, one or two players can change the way your team is perceived by the other team,” Sheppard said. “You got one or two tough guys, all of a sudden people are like, ‘Hey, don’t mess with this guys.’…It brings it out of [other players] when you look to your left and your right and there’s a lot more fight next to you, it comes out in you too.”