Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal on Monday cited ¡°personal reasons¡± for not getting vaccinated against COVID-19, adding he hopes that his previous bout with the virus will protect him.

Beal made the comments during the team¡¯s media day.

Beal contracted COVID-19 over the summer, preventing him from playing in the Tokyo Olympics. Beal declined to say why he would not get vaccinated.

¡°Personal reasons,¡± Beal said. ¡°I would like an explanation to ... people with the vaccines, ¡®Why are they still getting COVID?¡¯ ... It doesn¡¯t eliminate anybody from getting COVID, right?¡±

Beal said he ¡°didn¡¯t get sick at all¡± during his bout with the virus over the summer.

¡°I lost my smell, that¡¯s it,¡± Beal said, adding that he doesn¡¯t feel pressure to get vaccinated.

¡°I don¡¯t think you can pressure anybody into making a decision about their body or what they put into their body,¡± Beal said. ¡°You kind of let people come into their own about it. ... I talk it over with my family and we make a group decision that we feel is best for us, just like the rest of the world.¡±

Beal said his parents as well as his brothers are vaccinated, saying he understands ¡°both sides of it,¡± including reactions to the vaccine itself.

¡°Some people have bad reactions to the vaccine, nobody wants to talk about that. What happens if one of our players gets the vaccine and they can¡¯t play after that? Or they have complications after that? Because there are cases like that.¡±

Beal also addressed a report from The Athletic earlier in the day that Russell Westbrook tried to talk Beal into asking for a trade out of Washington together.

¡°This happens every year. Players are going to talk,¡± Beal said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t in the same head space that he was ... we had great conversations leading up to it ... I¡¯m happy for him.¡±

Beal averaged a career-high 31.3 points per game last season, earning his third All-Star appearance.