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I'll try not to get too carried away, but John Wall is off and running after carrying the Wizards to a 4-0 record in summer league (he sat for the 5th game that we lost) and being named the Most Outstanding Player in the Vegas Summer League Tournament. Wall got it done statistically, with his 23.5 ppg and 7.8 apg leading the league, in the W column with a perfect record, and most importantly in the leadership and maturity category. While a lot of you might be excited that he won an ESPY for best male collegiate athlete (despite not even being the best in his own sport......sorry, Evan Turner was better), you may not know that Wall skipped the ESPYs to practice. In Wall's words,"Basically I don't want to miss practice or anything like that, feel like I'm bigger than anybody," Wall said Wednesday afternoon. "The ESPYs were a great chance, I would love to be there, but there's more time down the future to get there. Right now I'm a rookie, so I need to be with my teammates, trying to get better every chance that I can. If I would have left, then they maybe would have looked where I was or I asked where I was. It wouldn't have been the right place and the right situation. So I told the ESPN people thanks for the nominations, and thank God, but I had this and this is more important. This is my job. That comes secondary to what I'm trying to do."
Wall clearly knows his role as a leader and his #1 priority is becoming the most valuable player he can be. I am not sure man-crush goes far enough to describe how I feel about this. Marry my sister? Marry me? I mean seriously, it's summer league practice! What 19-year old passes up parties, beautiful women, and fun for a morning summer league practice?!? The last face of Reebok clearly would have made the ESPYs.
Seriously! Not a game, we talkin' about practice. Maybe you can blame the scheduling, but Wall's maturity was echoed throughout the games; he just isn't wired the same way as other guys. As Bullets Forever noticed, in the 2nd game of the summer league, Wall scolded Javale McGee after a nice fadeaway jump hook because the Veil of Cashmere didn't throw down a dunk on Wall's initial lob, and later gave Young Sushi no love for hitting dumb 3-pointer. You would think that 3 years in the league would give McGee and Young Sushi a huge maturity edge over the 19-year old, but Wall is the one who 'gets it'. He is already the best player in the Vegas Summer League, but knows he has a lot to learn, recognizing that he expects more from himself. Not only does he continue to emphasize a need to improve and learn in every interview, but he is showing a high basketball IQ, and strong leadership qualities.
I know, he had a lot of turnovers, a 4-19 game, and Marco Bellinelli torched summer league, but Wall is going to be great. I never had concerns about his upside, but seeing and hearing how he is wired is something special. Kobe and MJ have a competitive drive and view towards basketball that is different from other players and that is why they are both so great. I am not sure that Wall has the competitive at all costs mentality of those two, but he clearly is wired in a way that makes him more likely to reach his potential than almost any other player in the NBA. I knew we had something special on our hands when we won the lottery, but didn't realize how special.
(Image courtesy of 3.bp.blogspot.com)
