Wizards point guard John Wall has a convincing argument for being a top-12 player in the NBA today. But Wall isn’t very confident that he is going to be able to crack the final 12-man Team USA roster for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
“I’ll be out of the picture,” Wall said bluntly when asked about his Olympic hopes for next year in a Saturday interview with Ben Standig of CSN Washington. “I’m just being honest. Chris Paul has already won one (Olympic gold medal). Steph Curry had an amazing last year and just won the World Cup. Kyrie (Irving) just won the World Cup. Russell (Westbrook) will probably be on the team. They’ll use him as a two-guard. So, I probably won’t make it.”
Ah, the pragmatist John Wall keeping it real. And with completely justified pragmatism, might I add. To say that Wall’s competition for what will likely three point guard spots on the Rio roster might be the understatement of the millennium. For one, we are currently in the midst of an era of NBA floor generals widely considered to be a golden age. Paul, the best pure point guard in the land, and the reigning MVP and world champion Curry are essentially locks for the first two slots.
As Wall alluded to, a loophole might be able to get Westbrook’s basketball psychopathy onto the roster as a shooting guard (which, let’s be honest, is his true position). Personally, I would argue the merits of Wall, the two-time All-Star, over Kyrie Irving, particularly in the realms of defense, athleticism, and playmaking. But Uncle Drew has Wall’s number in spot-up shooting and ball-handling, which makes him the more desirable asset for Olympic play. Not to mention that Irving’s connections to Duke and Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski as well as to expected Rio participant LeBron James would be too much for Wall to overcome. And even if the 24-year-old Wall pulled off a shocker and beat out Irving, he would still have Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley Jr. to compete with.
Wall’s bleak assessment is the latest reminder of the great talent paradox in USA basketball. There’s simply so much of it that many ridiculously deserving guys are going to be forced to watch from home. So yeah, suffice it so say, we’re probably not going to be seeing Austin Rivers around Team USA any time soon.
