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John Wall has a new revamped cast around him heading into the 2018-19 season, as the additions of Austin Rivers and Dwight Howard are bound to play a role in the push toward the Eastern Conference crown.
Yet his biggest enemy has been himself, as his body has been unable to handle a taxing 82-game season, often winding up in the shelf due to multiple knee injuries in the past few years.
The Raleigh native missed an entire two months of action before returning from injury last month, as the Washington Wizards struggled to stay afloat, barely managing to hang onto the eighth seed in the East. Wall is hoping the emphasis in conditioning and recovery he's put into this summer will help him tune into his best season yet.
“Nothing is gonna be handed to you, nothing is gonna be given to you,” Wall recalled during a one-on-one interview with Chris Miller of NBC Sports Washington. “I was a skinny kid about 5-7”, 5-8” in 10th grade — it was like ‘okay, you're nice in basketball, you're known in North Carolina, but can you go to the national stage and do it.”
Wall has had to prove himself multiple times during his career, but he's hoping this time to recover can get him in gear to make that final push, with a wide-open East after the departure of LeBron James.
“I've played chess all my life,” said Wall. “My whole life I've had to take chances and make decisions, believing in myself. I'm proud of where I am today and I think I have a lot more in store for the league.”
The dime maestro might have taken a step back during an injury-riddled regular season, averaging only 19.4 points, 9.6 assists, and 3.7 rebounds per game after three straight years of averaging double-digit assists — but he showed what he was capable of in the postseason, averaging 26 points, 11.5 assists, and 5.7 rebounds in a six-game series loss to the Toronto Raptors.
