Outside of not letting yourself get as fat as Shawn Kemp did back in the day, nobody really knew how to approach the lockout this past off-season. John Wall did so, not unlike too many other guys, by playing in just about every street ball-style charity event there was. Not to say there were any other styles of charity events of course.
In doing so, however, Wall may have stunted his development some. Or at least, according to him, he probably didn’t get as much better as he should or would have otherwise. Wall said as much after the Bulls game recently too, and I kinda see that as a mature thing for him to admit.
Here are those quotes from Wall by way of Mike Prada at Bullets Forever:
Wall said that, if he could do it over again, he’d spend more time working out and less time playing in these games.
QUESTION: Did you feel like you were at a disadvantage this year? Nobody had a summer, nobody had much of a training camp, but for a younger player, that would seem to be pretty important.
ANSWER: No … I didn’t think I had a disadvantage. I just think that, instead of working out more, I did more of playing in charity events and summer leagues, when I should have been working out more. That’s the only thing I think I should have done differently, but it was a great experience going to different states and venues.
The whole interview is filled with personal reflection on his season and what he and the team needs to do better. It’s worth checking out. Obviously, it’s disappointing that Wall didn’t supplement his summer-league experience with more gym work, but the good news is that he now knows the effect of that decision.
If there was ever a season where it really didn’t matter how well Wall played, in respect to wins and losses for the Wizards, it is probably this one. Wall could’ve averaged 30 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds per game and his team would’ve still been awful. Good season for a learning point to occur, in a career still young enough to go anywhere Wall wants to take it. We’ll see what he does this summer, and know how much better it was this time next season.
