When the Washington Wizards were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round for the first time in the John Wall era, their superstar player voiced his frustrations about players wanting to be part of what the Wizards had built. This off-season his general manager Ernie Grunfeld set out to change the culture of the locker room, and Wall made sure to help the process. The five-time all-star made his pitches and ultimately had a hand in bringing in Austin Rivers, Jeff Green, and Dwight Howard.
On Monday, Howard was officially introduced as a member of the Wizards. At that time Howard provided some details on how Wall helped persuade him to joining the Wizards.
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According to Howard, Wall reached out to him on Instagram. He did not provide insight of exactly what Wall said to him on IG, however, Wall had previously said it didn’t take much — just a simple question — to sell Howard on signing with the Wizards.
Wall and Howard go back long before as both were part of the adidas brand and went on promotional tours to China together through the shoe brand. With an opportunity to get a more athletic big as he wanted, Wall made sure to help in any way he could to land Howard.
Rivers came via a trade, but he shares a trainer with Wall and two would chat about their play in between sessions while in Miami last month. Rivers admitted both joked about playing as teammates and shortly after, Rivers was informed he was being traded to the Wizards to join Wall. It’s seems ironic that Rivers came in a trade that involved the disgruntled Marcin Gortat, who wore out his welcome with Wall and the franchise.
As for the local star Green, Wall stated he recruited Green the past off-season, but he ultimately chose Cleveland then. This year with LeBron James headed to the Western Conference, and the departure of Mike Scott from the Wizards, Wall reached out to his friend and eventually Green decided to sign with his hometown team.
While Wall is busy preparing for the upcoming season with his “Summer of Separation” he has been recruiting in an attempt to land players who want to play for the Wizards and help their dynamic backcourt of Bradley Beal and Wall get to the next level in their pursuit of an Eastern Conference title. Wall’s connections with Howard, Rivers, and Green may help change the mindset of a team that appeared stuck in purgatory with their recent shortcomings.
