The 2025-26 season has been such a success for the Phoenix Suns that it has made the absence of Jalen Green for much of the campaign so far easier to stomach.
He's appeared in only five games as we enter February, including a pair of starts, and was again missing for the loss at the hands of the L.A. Clippers on Sunday.
Comparisons to Bradley Beal unfair to Green
The timeline always needs something to complain about, and it was the turn of Green to come in for some criticism for being unavailable because of a recurring hamstring issue after the defeat.
Jalen Green has missed more games this year already than PTO Bradley Beal did all last year
— SaltySportsAz 🏀🏈 (@Salty_AZ_) January 30, 2026
Maybe it was the fact that Beal is now with the Clippers and done for the year because of hip surgery that got everybody talking after the two sides met, but this is just a ridiculous comparison to make.
Beal is nearly a decade older than Green, and his injury woes that defined his time in The Valley came about in a very different way compared to where Green is at now.
Beal also arrived in Phoenix having played 50, 40 and 60 games with the Washington Wizards in the three seasons prior to the trade. He was last an All-Star during that 60 game campaign in 2020-21.
He was a calculated gamble worth taking, especially given they traded away an ageing Chris Paul to get the deal done, but there was also no one injury that was forcing him to miss time.
That trend continued with the Suns, with Beal suffering all manner of injuries and with some of them just being unlucky. With Green it is different, this has always been about the hamstring.
The Suns are clearly being extremely cautious with the 23-year-old as well and why wouldn't they? This team is winning games with and without him, and they want him around for the long-term.
That might have frustrated Devin Booker earlier this season, but even he has to understand why the organization is acting the way that they are.
We also put forward the idea of Green changing the way he plays, for a small time at least, to see if that helps.
There is one way in which the two do share a similarity, and it is an issue for the Suns to keep tabs on. Between the ages of 24-26, Beal did not miss a regular season game. He was also an All-Star in both of the seasons in which he was able to stay on the court.
Prior to be traded to the Suns last offseason, Green hadn't missed a game in two full regular seasons including last year's playoff series with the Houston Rockets.
Granted he's still not even as old as Beal was when he started his own ironman run in Washington, but the fact he's missed so much time having played as much basketball across the last two plus seasons as he has is exactly why Phoenix is being cautious.
Despite this, we are nowhere near the point where you can call Green a crock for the Suns in the same way Beal ultimately was, so just enjoy his play when he is out on the court.