John Wall is finding his swagger again in Houston, but he still feels like his last team did him dirty.
In an interview this week with Fred Katz of The Athletic, the Rockets guard called out the Washington Wizards for being dishonest when they traded him for Russell Westbrook in December.
“I felt like I deserved the honesty and respect because I had been there for 10 years,” said Wall. “I’ve been through the bad times, when we had s—-y teams and when we had good teams in D.C. Never turned my back on the organization. I played through damn near every injury that a lot of people would not have played thru, played thru broken hands in the playoffs. I think I did everything I could and gave everything I had, heart and soul to the organization on and off the court.
“Then everybody kept telling me, ‘No, it’s not true. Don’t believe it. Don’t believe it,'” the five-time All-Star added about the trade rumors preceding his departure. “And I’m like, I know Houston probably called them first. But it’s just part of the business. Why wouldn’t you call if somebody wants to be traded? You know what I mean? And it’s nothing, just having conversations. And that’s all I wanted. If you’re having conversations, that’s cool, I get it. Nobody could ever tell me the truth about it.”
Katz notes that Wizards GM Tommy Sheppard said there were no plans to trade Wall less than two weeks before the trade actually happened.
Wall had been a Wizards lifer since they drafted him back in 2010. Under Wall’s leadership, the team went from a cellar-dweller to a regular playoff contender. But Wall’s value plummeted after he missed two years thanks to some scary complications from a foot injury, ultimately leading to the trade.
Now 30, Wall is looking good again for the Rockets. His 19.5 points and 5.9 assists per game are slowly creeping back up to his career averages. But as for the Wizards, Wall may hold that grudge for awhile. Just last month, he made more critical comments about them alluding to the trade.
