When John Wall arrives at the Toyota Center in Houston on Wednesday, he will step on the court without animosity or anger. He will be eagerly looking forward to playing against his former teammates and his joy won’t come from a chance to play after sitting out Monday night’s comeback win against the Rockets at Crypto.com Arena.
Wall said he thinks it “will be fun” to play against the Rockets, a team he was with lastseason.
Yet, if Wall allows himself to glance back, he will remember how he and the Rockets came to an agreement that he would sit out the 2021-22 season to give way to the youth movement. At the time, he was angry about how it transpired.
“(Upset) as hell. I wanted to play basketball,” the five-time All-Star point guard recently told The Athletic. “I felt like I deserved to play, like I deserved to start.”
Now, seven games into a new season with a new team, Wall, who signed a two-year, $13.2 million deal with the Clippers, seemingly has put aside his wounded feelings.
In five games, he has averaged 13.6 points, 4.6 assists and shot 49.1% from the field despite being on a minutes restriction. However, truth be told, he still wants to play well against his former team.
“Any team you played for before and you get away, no matter if he’s on good terms or bad terms, you always want to play well against the team and win,” Wall said. “That’s the most important thing.”
Wall said he didn’t let the circumstances in Houston ruin his outlook or love for the game.
Instead of pouting, he showed up for work every day, getting shots up and supporting the team during games. He eventually took on an “unofficial” coaching role alongside Coach Stephen Silas.
Therefore, Wednesday’s game not only will give Wall a chance to face the Rockets but to check the progress of the Rockets’ young corps, those he mentored while sitting on the bench last season. He even took the opportunity to visit them before Monday’s contest.
“Just the sight of them was great, seeing Jalen (Green), KP (Kevin Porter Jr.), KJ (Kenyon Martin Jr.) – all those guys playing well,” Wall said. “From being there with them last year and trying to teach them a lot about how the NBA goes, and how to be a pro. I was kind of like a big brother to them.”
Wall said when he came into the league as the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2010, veterans such as Gilbert Arenas, Andre Miller, Trevor Ariza and Drew Gooden served as mentors on and off the court.
“I had a lot of guys kind of teach me and taught me how to be a pro, be a professional,” Wall said. “Now, I just try to take whatever I learned over my last 12 years to pass on to those guys.”
Wall doesn’t need to take on a similar role with the veteran-laden Clippers, although he has taken Brandon Boston Jr., and rookies Moussa Diabate and Moses Brown “under my wing.”
“I say, ask me any questions you want to ask me,” Wall said. “Especially a guy who plays my position, the guard position. I’m willing to help you and tell you what I see and what I think you would be better at and just make reads throughout the game.
“Whatever knowledge I have gained through the game and years I’ve got I try to pass it down.”
Today, Wall believes despite the uneasiness of the Houston situation, it was “all part of God’s plan.”
“You can’t control certain obstacles, a certain set of situations and positions you’re put in,” he said. “It was like a test for me to see if I can get through another obstacle, through the tough times that I was going through.
“I knew something was going to happen when the time was right.”