John Wall has heard some of the chatter that the Washington Wizards are better off without him, but he’s not putting much into that talk.
Wall underwent season-ending surgery on his heel in December and has been out for nearly a month. The Wizards have gone 7-4 since his absence, compared to 13-22 prior to his surgery.
So what does he think of the talk that the team is better without him? He answered that question during an interview with TNT’s Dennis Scott during Thursday’s Wizards-Golden State Warriors game.
“I don’t pay it no mind,” Wall told Scott. “That’s what they’re supposed to do — they’re supposed to all step up and do a better job than what they did when I’m not there. There’s a lot of pressure that I have to deal with when I’m on the court. Somebody else had to take up the slack, and Brad (Beal) did a heck of a job there. I feel like he should be an All-Star starter the way he’s been playing. And all the other guys are stepping up, so that’s a great testimony to those guys. They’re not quitting and giving up on the season, because those guys have pride in themselves and they’re all professionals.”
The Wizards were expected to contend in the East after being a playoff team in each of Scott Brooks’ first two seasons as head coach. Instead, they came out looking like a mess to start this season, leading to all sorts of criticism and even some trade rumors. They made a big trade, Wall got hurt, and now they’ve finally gotten their act together.
Are they better off without Wall? Probably not, but seeing them play better is a good sign no matter what.
