Dime is the premier basketball magazine, covering the NBA, NCAA, High School, Playground and International basketball - as well as sneakers, fashion and music.
Issue link: http://dimemagazine.epubxp.com/i/73806
YouTube smashes and national magazine covers (like the one he got from us) was one of the most disappointing seasons in the NBA. The Wizards stumbled out of the blocks, blowing a 21-point lead in their home opener before losing 15 of their first 17 games. By that point, Wall was averaging right around four turnovers a night, had already shot under 40 percent in 10 of those games, and was so awful from beyond the three-point arc that he just decided to completely stop shooting them. By season's end, Washington was 26 games below .500, and their point guard's second-year num- bers (16.3 points and 8.0 assists a game on 42 percent shooting) weren't any better than his freshman production. Even now, Wall still contends, "I played in a lot more summer leagues than I think I should've, but I was doing it for a good cause." from a player who is so gifted he made the top 10 in both the NBA's dunks of the year as well as assists per game. On the nights when he finally does put it all together, like in April against Cleveland when he became just the fourth player in the last 25 years to throw up a 21-13-7-7 line, he is completely dominant. Wall is already so revered amongst younger players that while he attended the Red Bull Midnight Run this May, the players there frequently referred to him as an All-Star, despite the fact that he's never actually been one. NBA stars respect him just as much. Minnesota's Kevin Love says he's one of the three fastest players in the league. NBA Rookie of the Year and close friend, Kyrie Irving, checks in with the Wizards' point guard at least twice a month, often to pick his brain. "The only thing that I incorporated in my game that I learned from him – and I told it's tough, and I can't even imagine what he's feeling as a player." This year at the trade deadline, manage- ment finally cut the fat, and shipped out talented, but disgruntled and immature players like Nick Young and JaVale McGee. Andray Blatche, another resident trouble- maker, was banished for being out of shape. Washington traded for Nene, a 29-year-old center fresh off signing a five-year deal for more than $67 million in Denver last sum- mer, to shore up the inside game and give Wall a legitimate player he could count on. From there, the Wizards didn't exactly explode. They won just 5 of their next 19 games, but finished the year by winning six in a row as Wall had double-figure assists in the last five. AND THE 100 PLAYERS IN ATTENDANCE WERE HIS APPRENTICES. Is it possible? Did he really play too much playground ball? "We were locked out last year so yeah guys were all over the place playing," says Hous- ton point guard, Kyle Lowry. "Nobody said that about KD. You saw KD everywhere. That's just the nature of the beast. Everybody is gonna be criticized for everything they do when you're in the public eye as we are." Okay, so were the expectations too soon? After all, the player Wall is most often compared to – Chicago's Derrick Rose – did average 20.8 points a game during his second season, but only 6.3 assists, 3.9 re- bounds and a miniscule 0.8 steals a night, all dwarfed by Wall's averages this past season. Rose didn't truly breakout until his third year, when he guided the Bulls to a NBA-best 62 wins and the Eastern Confer- ence Finals, averaged 25 points a night, and became one of the most unlikely MVPs of the last few years. Yet it's hard to say we expect too much him this – is his ability to change direction full-court going full-speed is something nobody can deny him," Irving says. But as a point guard, Wall's reputation will always stem from those around him, and in two years in the NBA, he's just 43-105. He's already lived through a coaching change, a culture change and a changing of the guard. When he first arrived in Washington, Gil- bert Arenas was still donning a Wizards uniform, and the team was such a mess that their rookie point guard was eventu- ally calling them out after 23-point blowout losses, asking for "five guys that really want to fight, compete and care the whole time." "He got the short end of the stick," old AAU counterpart Dion Waiters says. "But as a great player, he's trying to turn the orga- nization around. I think they just gotta get some veteran players around him. They had some talented players but they traded them, so I don't know about that situation. "I can't even really speak on that because 56 "We want to be a playoff team," Wall says. "We know we can be a playoff team. We showed we can beat some of the best teams in the league, and we can compete with all of the teams in the Eastern Conference. It's just that we have to do the right things. I think everybody knows what our team is expected to be next year and what guys we're gonna have back. We just have to put in the work this summer and come back even better." Yes, the work. Talent isn't weaned in the summer. Production is. Wall has always carried a somewhat awkward reputation. Amongst fans, there's a long-imbedded belief that if a player can't shoot, they're simply lazy and lack a solid work ethic. As an athlete, you're supposed to will it to happen as if everything in life is just that easy. Tony Parker shot 23 percent from be- yond the arc this season. He's a three-time NBA champion. Derrick Rose made just 32 triples combined during his first two years. No one ever questions their work ethic. Even the greatest competitor of them all, Michael Jordan, was an up-and-down out- side threat, shooting below 33 percent from deep for his career. The most partying Wall ever did was for his 21st birthday, when he held parties along the East Coast, from New York to Miami. A few days later, he met us in Los Angeles for the cover shoot of Dime #66 and was going so hard in the gym that by the end of the shoot, he was in a full sweat. His life is ball, and even though it's been overlooked, there is already some evidence his game is changing. Statistics put together by the popular Wiz- ards blog, bulletsforever.com, show Wall shot below 22 percent on jumpers from 16-23 feet during last season's first 22 games. Over the