John Wall’s insecurities are showing again.
Washington’s All-Star point guard recently hit back at the criticism from media members, and his teammate Marcin Gortat, for saying that the Wizards don't need Wall to find success.
“They say what they say. I know what I do, and what I bring to a team," Wall said on "SportsCenter" on Tuesday. "I know I'm a team player. I average almost 10 assists a game — I'm very prideful, and finding my teammates and getting these guys easy shots. It was more just shocking to hear from him, and understanding that he gets the most assists from me, and the most spoon-fed baskets ever."
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Since the Wizards announced that Wall would be sidelined for six to eight weeks to recover from a successful knee energy, the team has shown improvement in a lot of key areas. In addition to going 5-1, the Wizards have assisted on 71 percent of their baskets, which leads the league in that span. Nearly all Wizards players have seen their net ratings shoot up significantly, and two of the team's wins have come against powerhouse squads (Thunder and Raptors).
At first glance, it would seem that the Wizards are better off without Wall in their lineup. But really, that’s just not the case. Prior to this stretch, Washington was 5-6 in the 11 games that its star point guard had missed, including an embarrassing 116-69 loss to the Jazz in December.
The difference between then and now is that the team’s back is against the wall (no pun intended). Earlier in the season, Wall was at most out for a couple contests at a time. The team’s best playmaker would be back to help them compete another day, even if he was not at 100 percent.
Now, things aren’t so easy. When the length of Wall’s injury was first announced, the Wizards were positioned as the fifth seed, and dropping out of the East playoff picture was just a few losses away. Anything less than perfect wouldn’t do, and that’s what the Wizards have tried to become. With this recent stretch, the team has realized if they don’t move the ball around to create good looks, baskets won’t happen without Wall around to force feed them.
"Everybody eats," All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal said after the win against Toronto. "That’s our motto when we move the ball."
This should be seen as good news for Wall. There will be less of a workload he’ll have to carry upon his return, his teammates will have gotten more scoring reps, and Beal will have more confidence as a leader in the locker room. Most importantly, he’ll actually have a clean bill of health and return to full strength, and not the form that allows 49 points from Russell Westbrook.
Instead, Wall got mad. Worst of all, this wouldn’t even be the first time this has happened. He complained about his years without a signature shoe deal were attributed to not getting the money he thought he deserved. He was annoyed at the lack of billboards featuring his face in D.C., saying "I ain’t got no billboards in D.C. … I want to leave a legacy and you can’t leave a legacy hiding behind the doors." He allegedly got bitter when Beal signed a maximum extension before Wall got his, and in 2016, Wall said he and Beal “have a tendency to dislike each other on the court.”
Rather than seeing comments like Beal’s as a game plan for survival during his absence, Wall sees it as a slight toward him. Rather than taking comments like Gortat’s as jokes, he responds with a passive-aggressive tweet. All those reactions do is stir the proverbial pot to the point where both of Wall’s teammates are forced to answer for his actions off the court rather than talk about their successes on it.
Probably the most frustrating part of this from a fan’s perspective is that these actions aren’t consistent with a player like Wall who is a selfless, pass-first point guard, and who balls out to give his teammates Rolex watches for Christmas. Instead, he acts like the shoot first, ask questions later superstar that only diehard Kobe Bryant stans still root for. Perception is reality, and if there’s nothing wrong, he’ll do more to show it. If not, maybe he should follow his own advice.
"Like I said, if any guys have a problem with me they can talk to me face to face as a man," Wall said. "And if you can’t do that then I lose a lot of respect for you."