The Washington Wizards aren’t a staple of the NBA’s national TV schedule and John Wall isn’t quite an annual award contender. As it turns out, under the league’s new CBA, that could cost him.
As an incentive meant to keep superstar players on the same team they’ve been on, the league is adding a “designated veteran” exception that will allow certain players who have won major individual awards or achieved all-NBA status to sign longer deals with their current teams, according to Candace Buckner of the Washington Post. As great as Wall has been, he has yet to achieve any of those accolades, and it may hurt him.
“I feel like it’s amazing and crazy because I had my best year, like, two years ago, my second year [as an] all-star, I averaged 20 and 10 and was a starter but couldn’t make all-NBA team,” Wall said. “So I mean, you want those individual accolades but it’s to the point that [if] you get your recognition, then you get it. You only get those by winning. When I did and had an opportunity to win, I still didn’t make it.”
Wall feels that the Wizards’ lack of national exposure hurts him in that regard.
“We don’t play on TV a lot so a lot of people don’t get to see us play,” Wall said. “If you don’t have NBA League Pass and stuff like that, you don’t see the things that I’m doing in the game or what we’re doing trying to win. So if you ain’t checking on Twitter and stuff like that, you don’t know. All these other teams get a lot of TV games, that’s why they get these accolades from the media and fan votes. Until we get an opportunity to be on TV more, it would be tough for people to realize and see what I do.”
Wall is definitely in tune with what people are making and contemplating his next contract, though he has tried to make it clear where his priorities are. You can at least understand where he’s coming from, though. Wall’s great, but in a league with so many elite guards, he may be locked out of all-NBA honors for a while.
