2. John Wall named All-Star Game Starter (2015)
The 2014-2015 season was a coming-out party of sorts for both John Wall and the Washington Wizards. Going into the break, the Wizards were sitting at 33-21 led by their star point guard, who was averaging 17.4 points and 10.1 assists. After their first playoff appearance in six seasons in 2013-2014, it was clear that this season showed that John and the Wizards had put the NBA on notice.
Going into the break, it was obvious that John Wall would be an All-Star, but the bigger question was, would he do enough to be the starter? There was a lot of good guard play that season with guys like Kyrie Irving, Kyle Lowry, and Dwyane Wade vying for the starting spots.
At that point in his career, John was playing the best basketball he had ever played, and it showed in how well the Wizards were performing.
In the final fan vote that decides the starters for the game, John finished with 886,368 votes to lead the Eastern Conference Guards. He had a whopping 81,000 more votes than the second-place guard, Kyle Lowry.
The West ended up winning the game, but John played very well, finishing with 19 points, seven assists, and three rebounds on 9-16 shooting.
Wall being named the starter for the All-Star team was not only a big moment that season, but it was a big moment for John’s career.
After several seasons putting up solid numbers with underperforming teams, John was finally in the limelight. The Wizards were back at the top of the standings, and John Wall was the reason they were there. It seemed like everyone in DC before this season already knew that John was a star.
However, outside of DC, because of how bad the team had been, a lot of people didn’t recognize how good John truly was. This season was really the season that the Wizards and their star truly arrived.
Being able to finally receive the national recognition that he deserved, John Wall was beginning his transition from a great player to a star. Not only was he finally being recognized but he did not disappoint in the game either!
Being named an All-Star starter was an awesome moment for a young John Wall and gave fans hope that this team was finally trending in the right direction.
It was nice to see that fans outside of DC finally saw John as the star that he was.