The Washington Wizards rebuild has been ongoing seemingly long before the team officially hit the restart button.
Washington has struggled to build a contender with a legitimate chance to compete in th Eastern Conference in quite some time, which is what essentially led the team to finally pulling the trigger on a trade to send Bradley Beal out of the DMV to officially kick the rebuild off.
Looking at the Wizards history, the team hasn't been very competitive dating back to the days when John Wall was still on the roster.
Fans are forced to think about the what-ifs when reminiscing about their former star backcourt duo of Wall and Beal, which alone brings pain to a fanbase who hasn't had much to cheer for in recent years.
To make matters worse, Wall's recent claim has only added to the pain of thinking about how little the Wizards have to show for putting together one of the most elite NBA backcourts at one time.
John Wall claims former backcourt duo could beat best in the East
Today the East has some of the best backcourt duos the league has to offer.
Between the likes of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland on the Cleveland Cavaliers and the emerging star duo of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe in Philadelphia, there's no denying the East has stiff compeition when it comes to backcourt talent.
However, Wall believes that not only did the Wizards duo have the best in their prime, but he believes that the team's former backcourt could easily defeat the best the East has to offer today.
“We [Wall & Beal] both can guard," Wall said on FanDuel TV. "I take pride in guarding my position, and I don’t think any of those guards can stop me. And if you try to put the point guard on Brad, they’re too small. So I feel like we win that.”
Considering how elite both Wall and Beal were in their prime, it's safe to say that this claim isn't that wild.
In fact, some would say that Wall is speaking facts when suggesting that the Wizards former backcourt duo could handle the other duos in a 2v2 competion.
Nonetheless, for a fanbase who hasn't had much to cheer for in nearly a decade, thinking about the team's former star duo at their best only adds more pain to the what-ifs of the past.