Bradley Beal injury: Clippers guard's season-ending hip fracture is major blow for Los Angeles' title chances

Los Angeles Clippers guard Bradley Beal will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a fractured hip, Beal's agent told ESPN. Beal, who will have surgery on the hip, sustained the injury in L.A.'s 114-103 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 8, and missed the following game against the Atlanta Hawks.

Beal, 32, was originally listed as out for that game against the Hawks with what the Clippers were calling hip soreness, but after undergoing further imaging the injury was determined to be far worse than that. Clippers coach Ty Lue admitted there was concern about Beal's injury, and that concern proved to be warranted.

Mark Bartelstein, Beal's agent, told ESPN that the decision for season-ending surgery was reached after consulting an array of medical opinions.

"We met with numerous doctors and specialists around the country in collaboration with the entire Clippers medical staff over the last few days, and came to the decision unanimously that the surgery will allow Brad to have a full and complete recovery," Bartelstein said. 

Bradley Beal's career derailed by injuries

Beal, a three-time All-Star, had a rough start to the season in his first year with the Clippers. He's averaged a career-low 8.2 points on just 37.5% from the floor. He appeared in six of L.A.'s 10 games, and hasn't been as productive as the Clippers had hoped when they signed him in the summer. The Clippers signed Beal to a two-year, $10.98 million deal with a player option on the second year after the Suns used the waive and stretch provision to allow him to become a free agent in the offseason. 

He was coming off a two-year stint in Phoenix where he averaged 17.6 points, but never played more than 53 games each season as injuries limited him -- and the Suns -- from building chemistry with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.

Injuries have now followed Beal to the Clippers, though we've never see him play as poorly as he was to start this season. Some of that is due to him still working back from a knee scope he had in May, which limited him in the preseason. Beal has been on a minutes restriction in each of the six games he's played, but hasn't been as efficient as he has been over the majority of his career.

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The Clippers were hoping Beal would replace the production of Norman Powell, who the team sent to the Miami Heat in a three-team deal that landed them John Collins from the Utah Jazz. That wasn't the case, and now they'll lose Beal for the remainder of the season.

Beal, a 13-year veteran, has only played in 70 or more games four times over his career, and hasn't been able to find his footing at either of his two stops since being traded from the Wizards in 2023. He's still only 32 years old, and his player option next summer should ensure he'll remain with the Clippers through next season, but his durability has been a massive concern in the last few years.

A major blow for the Clippers

The Beal injury is a massive blow given the Clippers have started the season 2-8 and are also without Kawhi Leonard, who is dealing with an ankle sprain he sustained in a loss to the Miami Heat on Nov. 3. However, ESPN's Shams Charania said on NBA Today Wednesday afternoon that Leonard's absence isn't considered to be "significant." That should be a sigh of relief for the Clippers, and while Leonard can mask a lot of the team's issues, he alone won't solve the fact that L.A. has a bottom-tier offense -- ranked 20th in the league, to be exact -- and an even worse defense (26th).

Beal already wasn't providing a ton offensively for the Clippers, so they'll have to find that missing offensive production elsewhere. Bogdan Bogdanovic would ideally supply some of that missing production the Clippers hoped Beal would bring, but he's seemingly slid out of the rotation after being held out of back-to-back games. Beal's injury should mean an elevation in role for Bogdanovic, but he'll need to do better than the 6.3 points and 28% from the field he's averaged in four games this season.

The Clippers were expected to be a dark horse contender in the Western Conference this season, but injuries have yet again plagued them. It's still early, and perhaps Beal's injury will push the Clippers to look for a trade that could net them some more scoring. But for now, they'll have to look elsewhere on their roster to get them out of this skid with Beal's injury serving as the latest tough pill to swallow for a team that has been continually derailed by injuries.