John Wall is heavily criticized for a top-five point guard in the NBA, a player who gets it done on both ends.
Among those criticisms — he parties too much. Which leads to photos where he looks wiped out. Forget that Wall was working out hard this offseason on his game and body in Miami, that’s not what some people remember. They remember the parties and take shots at him on social media.
Wall has words for them.
John Wall on fans having unrealistic expectations on what athletes can & can't do in their free time: "You got a 9-5, what you do after your 9-5? You not about to sit in the house all day? I'm a grown man and I can do what I want to" pic.twitter.com/x41elPj1iJ
— Troy Haliburton (@TroyHalibur) October 4, 2018
“I ask them the same thing. You got a 9-5, what you do after your 9-5? You not about to sit in the house all day are you? I’m a grown man and I can do what I want to. I know what I do and bring to the table, and that’s 110 percent effort. I know how hard I work on my game and I’m going to enjoy my life. I’m not about to sit at home and be boring.”
Wall is not boring. Nor is he wrong. Plenty of people go out after work, or smoke a blunt or two, or do whatever to have a little fun. The question is, does it get to the point it impacts their job the next day?
Wall averaged 19.4 points and 9.6 assists per game last season, and while he tends to be a little less efficient shooter than some other ones (51.5 true shooting percentage last season) he’s an elite playmaker and defender at the point. He’s a top five point guard, bottom line. He hasn’t had a lot of postseason success, but that has more to do with his team makeup and chemistry, not to mention the fact LeBron James has owned the East leaving a lot of players wanting. Wall has owned those team failures in the past and the team has set the bar high for this season. If (when, probably) the Wizards fall short of those goals it gets interesting in Washington, but what Wall does when not at the gym will not be the reason.