Suns Fans Boo As Bradley Beal’s Revenge Game Falls Flat in Clippers’ Loss

In front of a sellout crowd at Mortgage Matchup Center, Clippers guard Bradley Beal returned to Phoenix after playing his past two seasons in a Suns uniform.

Beal was first shown on the jumbotron, where he was greeted with boos and clammers from Suns fans before the game tipped off.

The crowd seemed to pick up as the game went on, screaming their haunts and cackles louder and louder the more Beal touched the ball, and it reached new heights when he missed his first four shots.

With James Harden and Kawhi Leonard out for the Clippers, Beal was expected to have a bigger role. But with that, more attention was directed toward the ex-Sun. He went 2-for-14 from the field (1-of-5 from beyond the arc) for just five points in 20 minutes as the Clippers lost 115–102.

Not exactly a revenge game to remember.

Back in June 2023, Phoenix completed a blockbuster trade sending Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, and multiple draft picks to Washington for Beal. Beal, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker were supposed to bring glory and excitement to the city of Phoenix, but the three-time All-Star didn’t compete in more than 53 games in either of his two years. The Suns finished sixth and 11th in the Western Conference in 2023-24 and 2024-25, respectively, and didn’t win a single playoff game.

In July, Beal and the Suns agreed to a contract buyout that freed him up to sign with the Clippers, and Phoenix will now pay him the remaining nearly $100 million on the last two years of his terminated contract over the next five years.

So it’s no surprise that Beal received the treatment he did Thursday night in Phoenix, and it seems even more fitting for the performance that ensued.

Regardless, Beal’s return to his unbeloved city of Phoenix proved rather dull, and as the last boos were heard as the ex-Sun retreated back to his Clippers locker room, it felt like the last words heard of a partnership that just never panned out.

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