Washington Wizards: John Wall’s rehab has taken a step back. Don’t worry.
By Ethan Smith
It might sound like bad news, but the Washington Wizards and John Wall are fine.
Washington Wizards fans that are holding their breath for John Wall’s return probably weren’t too happy with what they heard from GM Tommy Sheppard on his recent conference call with media.
Not only did he confirm that John Wall will not be joining the team in the bubble, but he also revealed that Wall’s rehab process has taken a step backward.
To quote Sheppard exactly, he said that during the time the season has been on hold, Wall has “lost all the basketball gains he made.”
Here’s the full quote via The Team 980:
"“He’s not going to join us in Orlando. This is a very critical time for us with John. As you know back in March he was scrimmaging with out GoGo, practicing with the Wizards. He was in a pretty great place. Then this unfortunate time happened. And he kind of had to go back, I’m not going to say to square one, but he definitely lost all the basketball gains that he had made. Those kind of got pushed back because of all of this”"
Hearing that Wall won’t join the team isn’t a surprise. And hearing that his rehab has taken a step back isn’t exactly a surprise either, regardless of how concerning it might seem at first.
But let’s put it in perspective.
Before the season went on a multi-month break, Wall was looking good. He was throwing down impressive pre-game dunks. He was torching coaches and trainers during practices and scrimmages. But he wasn’t playing in games. He wasn’t ready yet.
As unfortunate as it is, a few months away from the team is going to set back any rehab process, no matter how far into it the player is. So hearing Wall has regressed shouldn’t send Wizards fans directly into panic mode.
Deep breaths, everyone.
Sheppard wasn’t gentle, though. Saying that Wall has lost ALL basketball gains is going to raise some eyebrows. Especially given Wall’s injury misfortune over the last few seasons.
But Wall has something working for him. He’s healthy. He just isn’t game ready.
dark. Next. Wizards will have tough road to playoffs in Orlando
Getting back with the training staff should fix that quickly, and sitting out of the bubble games will only give him extra time to get those gains back.
Most importantly, this won’t set back the initial goal: Get a healthy John Wall on the court for game one of the 2020-21 season. That’s going to happen. It’s going to be glorious.