The Wall-Star era of Washington Wizards basketball was filled with plenty of ups and downs. From incredible playoff performances to Shaq’tin a Fool highlight reels, they had it all.
While the duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal had some great help in the form of an ancient Paul Pierce, the occasional game from Otto Porter Jr, and Marcin Gortat, they also had some starters who just did not help the team put anything in the win column.
First, some ground rules. To qualify for this list, a player must have made at least 10 starts in a season, have played during John Wall’s tenure as a Washington Wizard (not including the months following his ACL tear).
Yi Jianlian kicks off this list as the fifth worst starter for the Washington Wizards
Once a top pick for a dysfunctional Milwaukee Bucks front office, at this point in his career, Yi Jianlian was not going to turn his slow start around.
He once had boatloads of potential as an oversized power forward, but after being stuck behind both Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson in the shot rotation, and then behind Vince Carter and Brook Lopez for the next two seasons, he was never really given an opportunity to develop his game.
Mix this with the nasty injury bug he had throughout his entire five-year career, and he had bust written all over him.
Eventually the Washington Wizards decided to give him an opportunity in 2010 to help them move on from the Gilbert Arenas era and usher in the John Wall era, but he was already too far gone.
He only made 11 starts with the Wizards, and in his 63 games played for the team averaged only 5.6 points and 3.9 rebounds, and half a block in 17.7 minutes per game. Impressively bad for a seven-foot-tall power forward.
The only reason he isn’t higher on this list is due to the limited starts he made for the Washington Wizards.