The Washington Wizards of the mid to late 2010s were an exciting, up-and-coming bunch, thanks in large part to the exploits of what was once one of the best backcourts in the entire NBA in John Wall and Bradley Beal. In fact, in 2017, they had a golden chance to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, but instead, they fell short in Game 7 against the Boston Celtics, preventing them from punching their ticket to a matchup against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Almost six years later, and John Wall still rues that opportunity. And in doing so, he even doubled down on what was a questionable take, even back for its time. Speaking on Theo Pinson and AJ Richardson's Run Your Race podcast, Wall remained adamant in his belief that the 2017 Wizards would have beaten the 2017 Cavs had they faced each other in the postseason.
“We was going to beat the s–t out of Bron,” Wall said, with a deadpan look on his face, per Ballislife. “I'm telling you, if you [ask] anybody from the Cavs, they all had one team they did not want to see in the East. They did not want to see us.”
"We was going to beat the s**t out of Bron…They did not want to see us."
John Wall explains why the Wizards would have beat the Cavs in the 2017 playoffs.
Run Your Race Podcast | @TidalLeague pic.twitter.com/wiBOE0l7pn
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 18, 2023
John Wall expounded on the matter, saying that the Wizards matched up extremely well with the Cavs that season. Never mind that LeBron James is a different beast in the playoffs, and that the Cavs were in the middle of a blistering 8-0 unbeaten streak in the playoffs heading into the Conference Finals.
“Me and Kyrie, we matchin' up. I'm taking [Bradley Beal] over [JR Smith]. You got [LeBron James] over Trevor Ariza. Kevin Love and Markieff Morris, I'm taking Kevin Love but Markieff Morris can shoot threes and post up. I'm taking [Marcin] Gortat over Tristan Thompson,” Wall added. “Our bench was deeper than theirs. We had [Bojan Bogdanovic], Kelly Oubre, you know what I mean?”
Nevertheless, John Wall's point is nothing but moot. Even if he believes that the Cavs intentionally pushed for the two-seed to avoid the Wizards in the second round, they still were not able to take care of business against the Celtics. After a rousing Game 6 win off his game-winner, the stage was set for the Wizards to face the Cavs. But Wall shot 8-23 for 18 points in the deciding game, unable to will his team to victory.
Perhaps he should reflect more on what he could have done against the Celtics rather than dwell on a purely hypothetical scenario with LeBron James and the Cavs.
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