Houston Rockets guard John Wall was a five-time NBA All-Star over nine playing seasons with the Wizards. With Wall as the floor general and primary facilitator in Washington, backcourt mate Bradley Beal methodically developed over the years into an All-Star, as well.
For three consecutive seasons from 2014-15 through 2016-17, Wall averaged 10.0 or more assists per game in each of them.
Yet, according to FS1’s Colin Cowherd, Wall apparently hasn’t made any of his current or former teammates better. From Monday’s The Herd:
John Wall has never made a teammate better. [Russell] Westbrook has never made a teammate better. Draymond Green has made every teammate he’s ever played with better. … Find me the teammate Westbrook’s made better in his career.
Now 31 years old, Wall responded, very simply:
Lol this guy is a joke
Lol this guy is a joke ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️
— John Wall (@JohnWall) June 6, 2022
The Wizards made the playoffs in four of Wall’s last five full seasons with the team, never posting a losing record, and they advanced to the second round in three of those five years. Washington missed the playoffs in the five previous seasons prior to that stretch, and they have yet to even finish at .500 since Wall began having serious leg injures in December 2018 and was ultimately traded to Houston in December 2020.
So, it certainly wasn’t as if the impressive numbers for teammates like Beal were put up in a losing environment.
For the sake of Wall, who did not play in 2021-22 due to Houston’s desire to evaluate younger players, hopefully he will have another chance in 2022-23 to show his value in a playoff contending situation.
