John Wall can’t wait to return to the court next season. The Washington Wizards guard hasn’t played in an NBA game since December 2018 after having surgery on his injured heel and then rupturing his Achilles a month later in a fall.
Wall has been rehabbing and had participated in full-court scrimmages with the Wizards’ development staff and teammates before the NBA season was paused by the coronavirus pandemic.
While backcourt mate Bradley Beal has blossomed in Wall’s absence, the Wizards as a team have suffered. They had the ninth-worst record in the league at 24-40 while Wall has been relegated to observing games from the bench.
Appearing on Showtime’s “All the Smoke,” the five-time NBA All-Star has vowed to be better than he was before his injury.
“I’m going to be better than what I was before, and that’s the scary part about it. Because, damn near my whole five years I was an All-Star, but I played with two bone spurs in my knee and my heel, and people don’t know that. They ain’t even get the best of John Wall yet. They just got a clip of him.”
John Wall / “All the Smoke”
Wall was averaging 20.7 points and 8.7 assists while shooting a career-high a career-high 50.7% on two-point attempts in 2018-19 season before it was cut short with his Achilles injury.
The Wizards have had their fair share of losses in his absence, but Wall warns to the rest of the league he is ready to aid his team in returning those losses when he returns to the court.
“When I’m not playing, I’m watching these guys play, you know, like, the young guys. And they’re all like, they’re killing our team and looking at our bench and stuff. Just know I got those (players) written down in my notes for when I come back. When they start next season, I can’t wait to show them what I’ve got, what I’m about.”
John Wall / “All the Smoke”
There is precedent of Wall returning to form after an injury. He had his career-best season in 2016-17, averaging career-highs of 23.1 points, 10.7 assists and 2.0 steals while shooting a career-high 45.4% despite having surgery on both knees prior to the season.
