By Intern Reed Davis
Last week, John Wall announced he will not be taking the court when NBA play resumes on July 31st in Orlando. This decision was made to allow him more time to recover going into the 2020-2021 season, despite him claiming multiple times in recent weeks that he is “110% ready to go”.
This announcement from John Wall came after he appeared on The Kevin Sheehan Show last week. Wall said “I will not play at all. I will wait until next season. The decision has been made.” This same information has been echoed by other similar announcements from the Wizards Organization.
The Wizards are the lone team in the Eastern Conference that is invited to Orlando that is not currently holding a playoff spot. They are sitting five and half games behind the Orlando Magic and must get within four games to force a play-in tournament. The winner of the play-in tournament would then face the No. 1 seeded Bucks.
Executives and coaches from the Wizards have been doubtful of a John Wall return for months. Even after a four month hiatus, the medical risk of worsening the achilles injury is still there. The low probability of advancing or even making the playoffs most likely finalized this decision for Washington.
A healthy John Wall, combined with Bradley Beal playing at an extremely high level and a possible lottery pick, could mean the Wizards could be legitimate contenders next season. This franchise must be patient though, and that is exactly what they are doing by resting Wall.
