Wizards' Beal on Gortat: 'He's black in my eyes'

Marcin Gortat may be sexual white chocolate, but in the eyes of teammate Bradley Beal, he's a hammer of a different color. 

"He’s black in my eyes," Beal said, according to Mike Wise of the Washington Post. "He has every character of a black guy. He’s just a jokester. He’s down to earth, humorous. That’s how he is. He’s just a natural comedian.

"I mean, one, he calls himself the Polish Hammer. That’s comedy in itself."

Gortat, for his part, feels much the same. 

"Sometimes, I think it’s the way I carry myself, talk, make jokes," he said. "I think I have something from African American inside me. There is some kind of a black soul inside me that is fooling around with these guys and doing the same stuff they doing. Maybe they see some of that." 

Having signed a five-year, $60-million extension in the offseason, Gortat figures to be a foundational piece of the Washington Wizards puzzle - which is very much starting to come together - for the foreseeable future. That's great news for his teammates, who, according to Wise, see Gortat as the team's emotional center (also, its literal center). 

"The aura that’s around me, the positive energy around me, I guess, has influence on different people," Gortat says.

That makes sense; positive energy tends to rub off on people. So, too, does perspective, and Gortat has no shortage. 

"Listen, you get paid $12 million a year, there is no way you can have a bad day," he says. "You can’t have a bad day. There is so many people having problems in the world. What it is your problem? Coming to practice and work out for two, three hours? Is this your problem?

"I mean, come on, man, let’s be honest. You know what I’m saying? There shouldn’t be any problems if you set up things in your private life and family environment the right way, then you don’t have problems with your team and your team is winning ... Life is beautiful. What else do you need?"