Washington Wizards superstar point guard John Wall considers himself an old soul, taking a shot at the league's new mentality that no longer holds loyalty in very high regard — something Wall prides himself in:
“To be honest, me, I think guys don’t have that old-school mindset,” Wall said, via The Athletic's Michael Lee. “I feel like a lot of guys could play in that old era, but a lot of guys don’t have that mindset. If I played (Michael) Jordan and lost to him four years in a row, I’m not going to join Jordan. I’m going to compete against him. We don’t have that mindset nowadays. Four years ago, the league was different. Nowadays, if your center ain’t shooting 3s and catching lobs, get out. It’s different. I wish I had a center switching on me when I came out my rookie year when I didn’t have to go against defensive sets and everybody sitting in the paint. It’s a different ball game. It’s fun. It’s exciting for me. But being here is a blessing.”
Point well taken, John. And in his case, Wall had definitely walked the walk, with the former first overall pick one of the few remaining superstars to stick with their original team.
Wall then went on to explain why he possesses a different type of mentality from that of his peers:
“I’m different,” stated Wall. “You know me. You’ve known me for a long time — almost ten years. I’m never going to not be John Wall. End of the day, I’m going to be myself. That’s all I know. Like I tell people, ‘If you don’t like it, cool.' Somebody got a perspective of me that I never met before. If I care about that person or want that person to think something different of me, I would change my perspective. If not, I don’t care. Everything I built is for this city and where I’m from, North Carolina. Raleigh. I’ve got my backpack giveaway today. I go to North Carolina next Saturday. I’m trying to do even more in my city. I have an opportunity now, I’ve got an opportunity to talk to the mayor. I’m trying to do more in my hometown. I tell all my homeboys, ‘You don’t do enough.' It’s politicking; it’s networking to get all that accomplished. Here, I’m here every day, eight, nine months out the year. It’s easy to get stuff done. But this is home for me.”
Wall is under contract with the Wizards up to 2023, and it does seem that he has every intention of seeing out his entire career with Washington. He doesn't ever plan on asking for a trade, so if he ever leaves the Wizards, it will be because they wanted it to happen.
Wall is likely going to miss the entire 2019-20 season because of an Achilles injury, but he's champing at the bit to get back on the floor and prove his critics wrong.
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