John Wall was the face of the Washington Wizards for 9 seasons before his trade to Houston finally ended his stint with the franchise. Despite the ups and downs he faced throughout his tenure with the team, and with his co-star Bradley Beal, he can’t help but look back positively on his time in D.C.
In fact, in a sit down with The Athletic, he admitted to still watching their games, and that he voted for Beal as an All-Star starter.
(via Fred Katz of The Athletic)
Of course, Wall’s connection to the Wizards doesn’t just come from eight years playing alongside Beal or institutional knowledge of Scott Brooks or any of the other players who have carried over from past seasons.
He says he watches “all their games.”
Saturday morning, he voted for Beal, who currently leads the NBA in scoring and is tops among Eastern Conference guards in the All-Star Game fan vote.
“Why wouldn’t I? I told everybody, I said, I still watch all their games. Who the hell wouldn’t wanna watch Bradley Beal?” Wall said. “The numbers he puts up, the way he plays, you wanna support that. Outside of being just my brother, he’s a hell of a basketball player. So, a fan would wanna enjoy that.”
John Wall still watches all of the Wizards games following a convoluted trade that brought him to the Rockets.
“Who the hell wouldn’t wanna watch Bradley Beal?" pic.twitter.com/uRhWOfZ35A
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 14, 2021
Wall’s breakup with the Wizards cannot be described as a clean one. From gang signs to front-office dysfunction and even a disconnect with Beal, the months leading up to the Houston trade was a pretty rough time.
According to Wall, there wasn’t a whole lot of clarity when it came to his future with the franchise.
“It was funny because I was supposed to (do a photo shoot) in the City Jerseys on Monday,” said Wall, who the Wizards drafted No. 1 overall in 2010 and had spent the previous decade in D.C. “And I was just like, I ain’t feeling — I just don’t feel like I’m gonna be here. In my mind, I feel like it’s gonna happen.
Like, they gonna do something, because it just kept lingering for so long. And I’m like, if it was supposed to not happen, all you had to do was (be) like, ‘I appreciate you all calling for him, but John ain’t tradeable. We keeping him.’ That’s the same as if anybody was calling for Brad (Beal), because we know everybody is calling for Brad. They like, ‘Nah, he’s not tradeable. Brad is off the market.’ Once I realized they weren’t saying that (about me) and conversations kept going, I was, ‘OK, it’s gonna happen.’
After 9 years, the Wizards had become stagnant. Wall, who was coming off a major injury, was seen as a guy who would hold the team back, and it seems even the star guard knew his time was up.
Nevertheless, it cannot erase the relationship he had with the city and those within the organization. Some things, it seems, never fade and John Wall’s connection to the Washington Wizards, and his former teammate Bradley Beal, will live on.
