Washington Wizards: John Wall wants to be MVP for 2018-19 Season

Wizards have a target on their back

To start the 20171-18 season, Bradley Beal said, that the Wizards have a “target on their back”.  Beal was referring to Washington being one game from their conference finals in 2017 in the Boston Series.

Maybe Beal was trying to pep up his team. Either way, the team has stopped talking and plan on letting the ball speak for them. (With the exception of Wall’s MVP goals).

However, going into the new season, it appears that the Wizards are indeed a target. A target of jokes due to Howard joining the team.

Here’s an excerpt from “Seventeen Steps to Embracing Dwight Howard and the Wizards’ Offseason’” by Andrew Sharp.

"“1. Accept everything that happened last year. God, what a nightmare. The best part of last season was when it ended. The story of the disappointment begins with John Wall. He signed the richest contract in franchise history, called himself the best two-way guard in the league, showed up out of shape, called out his teammates, told reporters he plans to be the best shot-blocking point guard in NBA history (???), got hurt, played no defense, and was, statistically-speaking, the laziest player in the NBA. He also started a war with J.J. Barea (and lost), continued playing long enough to sign a shoe deal and make the All-Star Game, then missed most of the final three months of the regular season. After a six-game loss in the first round of the playoffs, Wall took to the podium looking like Supermax Janis Joplin and explained that next year’s improvement would be up to the front office.”"

Step 1 was the “nice” part, and then there was more written about the team chemistry, etc.

Skipping down to the 17th Step, Sharp concludes:

"7. Ignore them all. In Washington, there are no bad outcomes. This season could work better than anyone expects, or it could go down in flames and end in wholesale changes. Either way, while the rest of the world is trying to catch the Warriors with these anodyne basketball teams, the Wizards are going to be deeply unstable, borderline offensive, and potentially great.”"

As a writer, I don’t have a favorite player. However, there are 82 games in the season, and then the playoffs. Granted it was a first-round exit. But I covered last season in detail, which meant not only watching the games, but reading countless newspapers before 9 AM, staying up after the game for the pressers, holiday games, then sometimes finishing my writing at 3 AM. To then get up for a job that pays me.

I respectfully disagree with Mr. Sharp’s assessment in Step 1. Wall did not show up out of shape. He is a shot-blocking guard. Definitely not “lazy”. That is a not term that I would use with Wall. I’m not going to write that it’s borderline disrespectful, because it’s not. It is disrespectful.

It’s not a term that I would use for any NBA athlete.

What hindered the Wizards last season was injury. John Wall came into the season with knee problems, but due to his no-rest policy, he played through the pain.

It was during the pre-Thanksgiving matchup with the Charlotte Hornets, that I believed Wall should start sitting out games.

Then Otto Porter, Jr., who one would see going to the exercise bike in the middle of games, was also struggling with his hip. Again, I wrote last February, that he should be put on ice for the regular season, so he could be ice-cold for the postseason.

Also, Markieff Morris entered the season with a sports groin injury. He wasn’t at full capacity last season. While Beal, who was healthy throughout, shouldered more of the weight while Wall was out.

The Wizards didn’t have a deep bench, therefore the starters were pulling extra duty.

Wall set the pace of the game, so when he was playing through injury, that hampered the team, because they followed his lead.

Both Wall and Porter played through injury to the team’s detriment.

Yes, they lost to sub-500 teams. Another issue, which I stayed away from last season was coach Scott Brooks. He made idle threats when Keef and Marcin Gortat didn’t show up.

Yes, he’s a “player’s coach”. But it was unclear who was leading the team. It wasn’t Wall, who didn’t want to say anything while he was sidelined out of respect. It wasn’t Brooks, who never benched Keef.

While Beal, who was the leader while Wall was out, tried to take over games. Leading to heavy minutes in the regular season, and not-so quality minutes in the postseason.

The reason for falling short last season was injury and lack of leadership.

There are those who want to predict that Howard is going to sabotage the team, due to locker room issues. I don’t know what the future holds.

But I do know that if Brooks stops being a “player’s coach”, and Wall and Beal are true leaders, then the Wizards should be in the conversation for a top team in the East.

There are those who may believe Howard is the Wizards’ Kryptonite. As leaders, Wall and Beal have to make sure that isn’t the case.

It will test their leadership, but that’s how true leaders are born.