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Suns’ Bradley Beal leads the NBA in… what?

Originally posted on Burn City Sports | By Connor Moreno | Last updated Jan 11, 2025 5:07 PM ET

Diehard Phoenix Suns fans that watch every game may have noticed a… concerning trend this season with star guard Bradley Beal.

In fact, he leads the entire NBA in this (very) obscure stat — time spent tying his shoes. Yep, you read that right. Tying his shoes.

How did we get here? Well, former ESPN NBA analyst Zach Lowe pointed out the trend upon watching several Suns games. So much so that he took to X/Twitter to semi-sarcastically voice his concerns for Beal and this trend.

“After recently watching several recent Phoenix Suns games, I have a very important question,” Lowe said in an X/Twitter post. “Why are Bradley Beal’s shoes coming untied multiple times per game? Some working member of the media needs to investigate. He has to lead the league in in-game shoe-tying instances per 36 minutes.”

After watching several recent Phoenix Suns games, I have a very important question: Why are Bradley Beal's shoes coming untied multiple times per game? Some working member of the media needs to investigate. He has to lead the league in in-game shoe-tying instances per 36 minutes.

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) January 10, 2025

Obviously the estranged analyst wasn’t being too serious, but then, an analyst from Sportradar got to to work to see if he could actually calculate this obscure phenomenon… and he did.

Todd Whitehead, analyst for Sportradar and Synergy, calculated through skeletal player-tracking data the amount of times players in the NBA spent reaching for their socks or shoes with their thumbs to find a case where they might be tying their shoes.

And the results were just uncanny.

Beal leads the league in time spent tying his shoes while on the court this season at 64 seconds. The next closest athlete to him is Orlando Magic point guard Jalen Suggs at 49 seconds.

Bradley Beal is leading the league in shoelace tying time this season. https://t.co/nLtosDMma9 pic.twitter.com/pLVC8GqEzJ

— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) January 11, 2025

This whole situation is undoubtedly a bit outlandish, but it is still relatively concerning. Every second on a basketball court is valuable and if Beal has spent 64 valuable seconds tying his shoes, it may be time for a new pair.

This article first appeared on Burn City Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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