Pass It to Wall!

The NBA lockout has opened up a lot of free time for players. As discussed in my last piece, you've got Andray Blatche staying in shape, focusing on his charity foundations, staying out of trouble. You've got your superstars like Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant weighing their options about playing overseas. You've also got players that are probably less active, just hanging in the crib, sitting on the couch with one hand down their shorts and another digging for the remaining crumbs in a Fritos bag. Brendan Haywood would probably fall into that category. I'm certain he's so lazy he doesn’t keep track of the days of the week. Sike, I love Brendan…since he’s been an ex-Wizard.

Then we’ve got our beloved John Wall: a man with a relentless basketball motor that's showing no signs of slowing down, even without an NBA season in clear view.

Wall has stormed the headlines with his many Summer League highlights early in the lockout season. His latest set of victims came from the Melo Center in Baltimore where he went completely berserk. Embedded below is a short one-minute clip of highlights from that game. I’ll let you guys watch it before I proceed…

..Okay, welcome back. Are you as alarmed as I was after realizing that all those highlights were from ONE single outing? Did it also seem to you at one point that maybe this wasn’t real, but instead a re-make of that Fresh Prince episode where Will takes over that high school prep game? Remember, “Pass it to Will” was the coach’s game plan. Here, this clip should refresh your memory…

Clearly, the game plan for John’s summer league team was “pass it to WALL!”.

And let me tell you how bad I felt for #10 on the opposing team. After an embarrassment like that I’d probably never wear a pair of basketball sneakers again. The relentless ankle-breaking fiasco Wall put on this man was just wrong. At one point, after the second brutal crossover, somebody from the stands ran onto the court after #10 yelling, “Yo homie! You left your ankles over here!” You can’t see it because it just missed the camera. I just hope John was at least courteous enough to offer him an IcyHot patch or a tube of Bengay after the game.

But that was just one Summer League game where John Wall performed brilliantly. He’s taken the lockout by storm, participating in games all over the nation, including Seattle, Washington, DC and Los Angeles.

I’m sure with all this travel, Wall has been stacking up on United Frequent Flyer points. But besides that, the Summer League has given Wall the opportunity to stay in excellent basketball shape, polish his game, and more importantly, gives us Wizards fans growing confidence and relief that Wall truly is our player for the future.