When the LA Clippers decided to re-sign Bradley Beal for a two-year, $13.2 million deal through the 2027-28 NBA season, many fans hoped it signaled the guard was finally healthy.

Unfortunately, while Beal seemed to finally recover from his freak hip injury that forced him to only play six games last season, the guard revealed he was now dealing with knee inflammation. 

Nearly two months have gone by since then, and fans hoped maybe Beal had made some progress to join the struggling 2-8 LA Clippers, but that seems to be far from the reality.

During the Clippers' practice on Thursday, head coach Ty Lue revealed that Bradley Beal has been unable to play on the court for three days in a row.

 "Every time we get him on the court to do something three days in a row, it's not good results," Lue said. "Just gotta stay with it."   

When Lue was asked even further about what exactly was wrong with Beal, he gave a somewhat agitated response of needing to ask someone else for that answer.

For a player in Beal's shoes, who hasn't played a game of basketball since November 8, 2025, it's an incredibly concerning update. He somehow learned how to walk again after his hip injury, battled his way back, and now has a knee inflammation issue that's so bad he can't be on the court for three days in a row.

At some point, it raises the question of whether Bradley Beal will ever play basketball again, or if his body is just too broken down now. He's currently 33 years old, turning 34 this summer, and hasn't shown a single positive sign of a return since November of 2025.

Even before the injury, Beal did not look like himself last season. In the six games Beal played last season, he averaged 8.2 points, 1.7 assists, and 0.8 rebounds on 38/37/75 shooting from the field. It honestly raises a huge question of why the Clippers even re-signed the guard.

When it comes to Bradley Beal coming back on the court and helping the 2-8 Clippers, fans should just expect him not to be a catalyst in helping the team out. In all honesty, most of that hope should rest on the shoulders of Brandon Ingram and Yanic Konan Niederhauser.

It's no secret that Darius Garland is struggling this season. The 26-year-old guard is averaging 20.4 points, 6.9 assists, and 1.8 rebounds on 47/35/83 shooting from the field. However, he's averaging a staggering five turnovers a game, which has been absolutely crushing the Clippers.

With how difficult it's been for Garland to be the only main option on the team, having Brandon Ingram on the court should hopefully open things up for him in a major way.

All hope isn't entirely lost for the LA Clippers yet, but they're falling into a huge hole right now. If there's any hope to be had, it's the team getting back Brandon Ingram and Yanic Konan Niederhauser, and if the team still can't win games with those two back, it might be time to call it.