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Bradley Beal: My Mom Didn't Talk to Me for 2 Months After Florida Commitment
May 25, 2020
The night before Bradley Beal made his college decision, his mother asked him where he was planning to go.
She did not like his answer.
The Washington Wizards guard revealed his mother did not talk to him for two months after he announced plans to attend Florida over her preferred Kansas, which was about four hours away from their hometown of St. Louis.
"I'm on the stand. I've got all my hats in front of me...so I'm giving my speech and I'm looking at moms and she's like, 'Boy, you better say the right school,'" Beal said on All the Smoke (18:58 mark). "She wanted me to go to Kansas. Kansas is four hours from St. Louis—right down the street. Me, I wanted to get the hell away from St. Louis. I wanted to be as far away as I could possibly go and be on my own.
"I'm on the stand, I said, 'I'm going to the University of Florida.' She got up, walked out, didn't say nothin', didn't clap. I didn't talk to her for two months. Living in the same house."
Beal said it took intervention from his dad and two older brothers to break the silence: "She never missed any of my games, from grade school all the way through high school. She was at every single game, so for me to go 18 hours away was like a slap in the face to her. Even if I went to Duke, that was 14 and she was like, 'Damn, that's too far.'
"Kansas is cold as hell, it's four hours away, it's too close. I said, 'I just can't do it.'"
Beal revealed his relationship with his mother quickly healed to the point she called Billy Donovan at Florida to complain about him not getting the ball enough.
Ultimately, Beal's 18-hour sojourn did not last long. He declared for the NBA draft after spending one year at Florida and was the No. 3 overall pick to Washington, which is slightly closer at 13 hours by car.