Wizards' Bradley Beal: 'We're definitely the best backcourt'

Everyone else was saying it, so Bradley Beal joined in.

"We're definitely the best backcourt in the league," the third-year shooting guard said at Washington Wizards media day Monday.

So that was that. Beal and point guard John Wall swaggered through an endless series of interviews and photo shoots, heads held high as their teammates extolled their abilities. They're young, but they're talented and versatile and ready to take off this season.

But the best pairing in the NBA? That might strike some as odd, particularly after both were cut from Team USA's FIBA World Cup roster this summer while Golden State Warriors guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson played big roles.

"USA and the NBA are two different brands of basketball," Beal told USA TODAY Sports. "We feel as though we're the best backcourt in the league, and I'm pretty sure those guys think they're the best backcourt in the league."

They have reason for confidence. The Wizards made the playoffs last season for the first time since 2008, beating the Chicago Bulls in the first round before pushing the Indiana Pacers to six games in the second. Wall made his first All-Star team, and Beal took on the role of No. 2 scorer and showed his bright potential before he turned 21 this offseason.

And they have quality support for their claim. Paul Pierce, the future Hall of Famer who signed with the Wizards after 15 seasons with the Boston Celtics and one with the Brooklyn Nets, made clear what he thinks about his new teammates.

"You've got an opportunity to play with the best backcourt in basketball," Pierce said. "John is going to make life easier on me. I saw what he was having to do last year, helping (now-Houston Rockets small forward) Trevor Ariza miraculously have another career year — even though maybe it was a contract year, but who knows — but he definitely made it easier on him. So I'm going to step into the right spots.

"But everything is going to go through these guys. They're the engine that's going to drive us. John and Bradley, they're the engine. No questions asked. And we're going to play through them, and as they continue to grow it's going to help us grow as a team."

Pierce was part of a veteran free agency haul for the Wizards, along with big men DeJuan Blair and Kris Humphries. Those additions, along with the development of the two prized stars and continuity with starting big men Nene and Marcin Gortat back, have the Wizards looking like potentially one of the three best teams in the Eastern Conference.

Last year's playoff success led to a lot of jocularity at Wizards media day, with Gortat explaining his and Martell Webster's mohawks as "sexual (white and black) chocolate."

"We're not in a rebuilding process any more," veteran big man Drew Gooden said. "I feel like we have our team, we have our nucleus of guys who we can put out on the floor and get things done and continue off of what we did last year. This is a little different than other media days, especially around here."

The attitude shift was most noticeable in Beal, who said he's picking up some of Pierce's trademark confidence and even trash talk. Is he ready to start a rivalry with Curry and Thompson?

"Playing against everybody's a rivalry to us," Beal said. "We want to prove to everybody that we're the best backcourt."