Washington Wizards All-Star guard John Wall appeared to take a big step in the right direction last season. He showed everyone that he wasn’t just a high energy point guard who just looked to run up and down the court and score whenever the ball was in his hands.
He slowed the game down, averaged double-digit assists and lead the Washington Wizards to the second round of the playoffs before a freak hand injury derailed his and Washington’s playoff hopes.
With Wall taking such a big step, the obvious next move for the D.C. star has to be a chase for some big recognition like winning the NBA’s MVP award.
Following from Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.
Basketball Insiders: What are some of your individual goals for this year?
John Wall: “I want to be in the MVP conversation and give myself a shot at being the MVP. That means I need to play well, help my teammates play well, get those guys shots and lead my team to wins. I definitely want to be an All-Star starter again. I want to be All-NBA First Team. I want to be on the All-Defensive First Team; I was All-Defensive Second Team last year. I think I was snubbed from the All-NBA Third Team last year, but I just use that as motivation for this year to try to get better. Another individual goal is definitely leading the league in assists this year. There are a lot of things I want to do, but those are some of the main ones.”
Basketball Insiders: I’m glad you brought up the MVP award because I was going to ask you about that. The Wizards rely on you so much on both ends of the floor and you’re so important to the team, yet you weren’t in the MVP conversation last year. There were 12 players who received at least one MVP vote last year, but you weren’t one of them. Does that motivate you?
John Wall: “Yeah, totally. I’m a point guard, so I don’t score a lot. I know I could score 24 points if I wanted on any given night, but I’m a guy who can average 18 points and 10 assists, and I’m perfectly fine with that as long as my team is winning. I’m just a guy who does whatever my team needs: rebounding, getting blocks, trying to shut down the best player on the other team. I’m willing to do all of that, and I think that’s what an MVP-type player does because they’re the most valuable player to their team.”
Wall can do it. He has the skill and teammates around him to help him win the award. The issue is, the Wizards need to take that next step into the upper echelon of NBA teams. While they are a good team, they aren’t quite as good as the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers or Golden State Warriors. Finishing as a four seed in the Eastern Conference wouldn’t reflect well on an MVP.
Still, there’s no doubt that Wall can do it. He has the talent and the stats last season to build on for a good resume for the MVP award this season. Another issue is, Wall has a large hill to climb if he wants to get there. Guys like Anthony Davis, LeBron James, a healthy Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, James Harden and of course the reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry won’t just lay down and let John walk right past them.
