From the start of the 2013-14 season to midway through the 2017-18 NBA season, John Wall was one of the best point guards in the entire NBA and had made five straight All-Star appearances.
In this five-season time span, Wall averaged 19.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 9.9 assists, 1.8 steals, and shot 43.6% from the floor. Add in his insane athletic abilities, the former Kentucky standout was virtually impossible to stop once he got going, but then injuries began to haunt him.
Early on in his career, John Wall battled some knee injuries, one of which caused him to miss the start of the 2012-13 season, but up until the 2017-18 season, he was always healthy and dominant on the court.
Then on January 30, 2018, Wall suffered a left knee injury that required surgery. He missed two months due to this surgery and made it back in time for the Wizards’ first-round playoff series that year, which they lost to the Toronto Raptors.
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Five straight All-Star appearances and is one of the best point guards in the game made John Wall one of the “household” names in the NBA, but then early on during the 2018-19 season, Wall suffered a heel injury that required season-ending surgery.
Shortly after this surgery, Wall developed an infection in the incision from this surgery and then ruptured his left Achilles tendon after slipping in the shower at his house.
John Wall had last played in an NBA game on December 26, 2018, until he finally made his long-awaited debut with the Houston Rockets last season, after being traded there for Russell Westbrook in the previous offseason. In his debut with Houston on December 31, 2020, John Wall scored 22 points on 8-20 shooting and also recorded 6 rebounds and 9 assists.
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With the Washington Wizards, John Wall was a fantastic player and will always be remembered as one of the top players in that franchise’s history, but injuries just destroyed his career trajectory with them. When he was healthy, Wall was a top-tier point guard in the league, but his durability is in question now and his time with the Rockets was short-lived as a result.
The Rockets traded away James Harden in January, thus beginning a rebuilding process with young talents. Christian Wood, Jae’Sean Tate, Kevin Porter Jr., and Kenyon Martin Jr. were all young players Houston looks to utilize last season and now, with Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Usman Garuba, and Josh Christopher coming in from the 2021 NBA Draft, the Rockets have a ton of new rookies to play around with, meaning they do not have a need for John Wall anymore.
