What Is Bradley Beal's Timeline for Return After Surgery on Season-Ending Injury?What

Los Angeles Clippers star Bradley Beal will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season due to a hip fracture, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

Charania also shared a statement from Beal's agent, Mark Bartelstein: "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."

Law Murray of The Athletic reported the recovery period could be six to nine months.

This is a massive blow to a team that's 3-7 and living up to all of the jokes made about an aging, veteran-laden roster.

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Beal played a role in the Clippers' underwhelming start. He missed four of their first 10 games and averaged 8.2 points on 37.5 percent shooting when he did play. On-off splits aren't everything, but it's telling how L.A. was 6.2 points per 100 possessions better when he was on the bench, per NBA.com.

It's too early to start writing obituaries for the 2025-26 Clippers, but signing Beal was one of their big offseason moves. In addition, his arrival basically came at the cost of Norman Powell, who's thriving with the Miami Heat.

Now, Beal is done for the year as fellow star Kawhi Leonard continues to be sidelined with an ankle sprain.

The vision from Los Angeles' offseason was easy to understand. Having reaffirmed its commitment to Leonard and James Harden, the front office didn't have a lot of ways to dramatically improve the roster. Beal, Chris Paul and Brook Lopez all signed one-year, team-friendly deals, and maybe the Clippers could catch lightning in a bottle for a season.

The potential pitfalls to this strategy were just as obvious. Beal and Leonard have long injury records, and the pair of Paul and Lopez have declined on the court in recent years.

All of the Clippers' worst fears are quickly being realized.