Over nine playing seasons with the Washington Wizards, John Wall was a five-time NBA All-Star at point guard and had three consecutive years averaging 10.0 or more assists per game.
But somehow, in the eyes of FS1’s Colin Cowherd, Wall hasn’t made any teammate better over his distinguished NBA career. Now 31 years old and under contract with the Houston Rockets, a seemingly incredulous Wall quickly responded to the comment by calling Cowherd “a joke.”
It’s a fairly wild accusation by Cowherd, since wasn’t as if those gaudy statistics and All-Star honors were put up in a losing environment.
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. By contrast, Washington had missed the playoffs in the five previous seasons, and they have yet to even finish at .500 since Wall began having serious leg injures in December 2018 and ultimately was traded to Houston in December 2020.
For Wall, who did not play in the 2021-22 season due to Houston’s desire to evaluate younger players, he could soon have another chance in 2022-23 to show his value in a playoff-contending situation. Even if Wall’s contract remains too large to find a mutually agreeable trade suitor this offseason, the Rockets would almost certainly be willing to buy him out, now that Wall is entering the last year of his existing deal.
Until then, though, Wall and his supporters will have to rely on tape from years past to defend his legacy. Here’s a sampling of the immediate pushback after Cowherd’s bombastic statement on Monday.
