The LA Clippers had to deal with a lot this offseason, from constructing a roster after trading away Kawhi Leonard to the ramifications of the NBA's investigation into the reported salary cap circumvention. And that's before you even get to the franchise re-signing Bradley Beal and giving him Chris Paul's number three jersey.
Beal re-signed with the Clippers in mid-August on a two-year, $13.2 million deal after missing most of last season with the fractured hip. Beal opted out of the second year of his deal to test free agency, but ultimately re-signed with the Clippers.
Following Chris Paul's ugly departure from the franchise and Beal's return, news surfaced that Beal was switching his jersey number to three, which had a lot of fans frustrated and thinking, “the Clippers just can't get out of their own way.”
Bradley Beal spoke with members of the media during Monday afternoon's Media Day, and the guard explained why he decided he wanted the jersey number back, with respect to Chris Paul.
Article Continues Below“I've always won No. 3 and it's no disrespect to Chris. Chris and I are amazing friends, he's an amazing guy and like I said before, his legacy is gonna be up here (in the rafters of Intuit Dome). What I'm doing ain't got nothing to do with that. So I'm a little superstitious in some ways. When I first came to the team last year, I was wearing No. 3. And when we signed Chris after I came here, I gave Chris, out of respect, the number, right?
“And full circle moment, I was able to come back and ask the team if No. 3 is available. They talked about it, [Lawrence Frank] talked about it, and we came back later on in the year and said, yeah, we'll do it. So I just left it at that. I'm happy to be wearing the number I've worn my entire career. I'm a little superstitious. Didn't wear my number last year. I didn't play at all last year. So I'm just happy to be in my number and just kind of get a clean start.”
Bradley Beal is fully recovered from his hip injury suffered after playing just six games last season, but did suffer inflammation in his right knee and is working his way back from that. He's not expected to be ready for opening night when the Clippers host the Sacramento Kings, but is not expected to be out an extended period of time as of right now. As we've seen with inflammation, however, it's a tricky thing to deal with and not something you can necessarily put a timetable on.
The Clippers continue training camp in Hawaii this week before taking on the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, Octboer 4th.