John Wall suffered an injury to his wrist in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, which held the Wizards back from advancing further in the playoffs. Being the leader of the team, Wall was needed to get everybody involved as well as to take on a large scoring role, and this hole was hard to fill once he was out of the lineup.
Had Wall not gotten hurt, Bradley Beal believes the Wizards would be the team representing the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. While appearing on ESPN2’s First Take, this feeling was made evident in his conversation with Stephen A. Smith.
Following From Washington Post.
“My point is if John Wall hadn’t gotten hurt, the Washington Wizards would’ve been in the East finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers,” co-host Stephen A. Smith said. “If that had happened, what would’ve happened? Would LeBron be sitting here right now?”
“Yeah, he’ll be talking to y’all right now,” Beal said. “Wishful thinking.”
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a great team and would have been hard for Washington to beat, but it certainly could have been done. The question of John Wall or Kyrie Irving could have finally been answered, and the Wizards could have found themselves in the NBA Finals.
We will never know what would have happened. This Wizards team, will never be the same again, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Players in Washington will make huge improvements this offseason, and the team will likely find themself in the same position next season.
