Appearing with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on their “All The Smoke” podcast, Wizards guard John Wall vowed to return to the court better than ever and addressed rumors of a long-running feud with Bradley Beal, relays Jack Maloney of CBS Sports.
Wall hasn’t played since December of 2018 because of a ruptured Achilles. He’s not expected to return this season no matter when it resumes, but he told the hosts he’s keeping track of what’s been happening on the court and is ready to exact revenge in 2020/21.
“When I’m not playing, I’m watching these guys play,” Wall said. “Like these young guys, they killing our team and they looking at our bench and stuff. Just know I got those written down in my notes for when I come back when they start next season. I can’t wait to (show) them what I got, what I’m about. But I’m gonna be better than what I was before, and that’s the scary part. Damn near the whole five years I was an All-Star I played with two bone spurs in my knee and my heel. People don’t know that. They ain’t even get the best of John Wall yet, they just got a clip of him.”
Speaking about his backcourt partner, Wall said any tension with Beal stemmed from their shared desire to be the team leader. They’ve both put up impressive numbers during their eight years as teammates, but they haven’t been able to lift the Wizards into title contention.
Still, their partnership seems likely to continue. Beal signed an extension in October that will keep him in Washington through at least the 2021/22 season, while Wall is under contract for two more years with a $47,366,760 player option for 2022/23 that he seems certain to pick up.
“We both want to be stars. We both want to take the game-winning shots … But at the end of the day, they always say, ‘Well, they don’t like each other. They downgrading each other.'” Wall said. “Ain’t no John Wall without Bradley Beal. Ain’t no Bradley Beal without John Wall. We make each other better. We accommodate each other so well on the court and it works easy for us.”
Good tough talk, but no games on tap!
I do agree with Wall, if he can get back to 100% he has to be better physically than he was for the past 5 years, which can be a scary thought, Optimus Dime is back, baby!
Wizards I feel will definitely draft Issac Okoro.
John Wall is making a lot of noise as he prepares to comeback strong which would make drafting a point t guard to play back up a weird selection. Obviously they are set at SG with Beal, set at PF with Hachimura and have young Thomas Bryant at centre.
Okoro is also the best defender in this draft class which is something Bradley Beal said he wanted. He come out many times during the season to say he wants his team to defend better and wouldn’t mind getting some help.
Wall Beal Okoro Hachimura and Bryant make a decent starting 5 and in the east might make the playoffs, but that’s depending on how the young guys do. I think Okoro was the biggest potential outside LaMelo Ball to flop. He struggles to get his own shot, only averaging 12 points. He isn’t a great rebounder for a defensive wing, only averaging 4 boards, and he can’t exactly play make averaging 2 assists.
He averaged less than 30% on 3’s, and less than 70% on FT. His team the Auburn Tigers didn’t exactly have great scorers, he was the second highest with 12, meaning he had the opportunity to go and get more points and he didn’t.
I think in the NBA he will average about 6/7 points as a rookie, which he will get off transition and cutting to the paint, because he doesn’t have a shot.
You’re leaving out Bertans, who would beat out Okoro. So would Troy Brown probably. I think they can start Bertans, Bryant & Rui together. Okaro may look a lot like Brown but not a bad pick. I doubt they try Edwards or Ball with the 3 as a backup position; there’s too much noise already at the 1.
Brown is trashhhhhhhh and Bertans suits that 6th man bench role.
Brown ain’t that bad actually, he has had a decent season. BTW Tazza did you know that he had a better PER than Harrison Barnes, right?
He averages 10-5-2, that’s like Rudy Gay from the Spurs. That’s like 74 overall on 2k level type play hahahah
Don’t know 2k, just hoops, & his PER is better as a matter of fact.
I’m hoping the fued continues with a pipedream either Wall or Beal come to MSG
Anyone with a choice isn’t going to willingly come and play for James Dolan, even if the aura around the Knicks and MSG might hold a certain allure.