Washington Wizards: John Wall was concerned about walking again, not playing basketball

On a recent podcast, Washington Wizards point guard John Wall recalled just how brutal his recent injury recovery was

John Wall has had a really tough go of it as of late with the Washington Wizards. Wall has been out this entire season recovering from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon, having last played in December of 2018.

Beyond the game of basketball, Wall has had to deal with tremendous loss in his family, as his mother passed away following a battle with cancer late in 2019.

Most people think of professional athletes getting injured and view it as a standard thing. Usually, you go to the doctor, get the required surgery, and recover from the injury, progressively getting your body back to a normal state where you can play at a high level. At worst, you may never be the same player you were before, but can still probably live a relatively normal life after your time as a player is over.

It’s not always that straightforward, though. For Wall, there were some major complications with his surgery, including repeated infections, which caused him to think beyond playing basketball again and just hope for a normal life.

Speaking to Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson on the All the Smoke podcast, Wall talked about the infections and how they became a trepidatious battle for him and his doctors.

"“So now I’m thinking, like, ‘y’all might have to cut my whole leg off if y’all can’t clear the infection out of there,’ because it’s deep down in my foot. So now my mindset is, man, forget the Achilles’ and getting that fixed, just please clear this infection so I can walk and be healthy and have my foot still.”"

Going from competing for All-Star bids and playoff spots to fighting for your right to a normal life with two legs is a really tough fall from grace.

It seems, though, that Wall was able to keep some perspective in even the darkest of days when he was worried about the infections.

"“Man, forget even playing basketball, just let me have my leg so I can walk and be normal and play with my kid, whatever. Then I finally got past that stage where now I’m like, I can’t wait to prove everybody [wrong] and show everybody what I got because everybody thinks I’m done.”"

Wall is no stranger to fighting through the pain and even playing through it. In fact, he revealed that some of his best seasons came with bone spurs.

"“Da– near the whole, like, my five years that I was an All-Star, I played with two bone spurs in my knee and my heel, and people don’t know that… They ain’t even get the best of John Wall yet,” Wall said."

In Wall’s five All-Star seasons, he averaged 19.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 9.9 assists. If he’s saying he’s coming back healthier than he was in even those seasons, man, the Eastern Conference has to watch out.

Wall said, adamantly, that he is going to come back better than he was before and that he feels better than ever. He also confirmed some rumors that he has been going at it hard with the Wizards’ G League team, too.