Washington Wizards Point 'Gawd' John Wall has been named to his fourth consecutive NBA All Star game. As a Wiz fan, this is awesome. I always shout out Bradley Beal as my favorite player in the NBA....but if I'm keeping it 100....its John Wall. Although Wall is almost superhuman on the basketball court with his speed and vision in traffic, I think the biggest thing I like about Wall is the off the court stuff. He comes from Raleigh, NC (as do I) and I know the area he grew up in. I know every city/town/state has a 'rough' area so its cliche to say this....but he grew up in a rough area of Raleigh. And its made him a better person because of it. I don't know how true it is, but Wall seems like the type of dude, even as an NBA All Star, that you could find walking around alone and think nothing of it. I've had season tickets for the Wiz for the past two years, and if you get to the games early enough, you can catch the last few minutes of his warmups. He's ALWAYS smiling laughing and joking with anyone from the players to the security guards. And its funny because he still has a North Carolinian accent plus he sort of mumbles so his delivery of what I'm sure is him joking on somebody makes it hilarious. Its a side that people outside of (and maybe people inside also) DC have no idea about. While its not a huge award like the MVP, Most Improved Player....Wall won the 2015 NBA Cares Community Assist award. That kind of award means more to me that most others because he's using his platform as a recognizable face to the community and kids to show them he cares. I know that people can be jaded and say 'yeah yeah, good PR' but Wall slips and does things for communities (especially in Raleigh) that doesn't get press.
I know I glossed over his game, but watching JWall in person is hard to describe. On TV he looks...you know...like an average dude on the court, but in person, he's 6'4 6'5 and super fast with and without the ball. I've heard the 'but he doesn't really have handles' stuff before with him....as we are seeing this year, that's not true. Sure, he doesn't have Kyrie Irving handles....but who does? The Wizards are extremely lucky to have him running the show. Overall, I'm glad that I get to see him for a least a few more years while he is still in DC. Congrats JWall