John Wall didn't accept Team USA's invite immediately because of a knee procedure

There's a feeling that John Wall was a very last-minute invite to Team USA, but that's a bit of a stretch. As it turns out, Wall was invited days before he officially accepted the offer, but didn't answer immediately because he had a knee procedure done that hadn't quite healed yet, according to Michael Lee of the Washington Post.

When Jerry Colangelo, managing director of the U.S. national team, extended the Wizards point guard a late invitation to Team USA training camp after Oklahoma City all-star Russell Westbrook withdrew from participation this summer, Wall was only a few weeks removed from having shockwave treatment to relax tendinitis in his left knee.

One of the purposes of Wall going to Las Vegas during the week of Summer League was to go through a series of workouts to test whether his body was ready. Wall ultimately passed those tests and the Wizards cleared him to participate.

Shockwave treatment was initially developed for kidney stones, but is now a common procedure for tendonitis and other ailments. It involves plugging a probe onto the injured area and releasing waves into the skin. The body then naturally produces more blood, which helps heal the injured tendon. It's an uncomfortable process, but it's not especially painful and is much less invasive (or serious) than surgery. It's unclear how many treatments Wall received, but from what I understand, multiple ones are required.

It doesn't seem like a serious procedure, but it adds to the concern that there are structural issues with Wall's knees that'll hamper him as he gets older. He suffered from tendonitis in his right knee as a rookie, which caused then-coach Flip Saunders to dangerously proclaim that Wall will "never been pain free." Then, of course, there's the stress injury (fracture?) that occurred in his left knee in 2012 that held him out for the first half of that season. That's the same knee that was treated earlier in the season.

The good news is that Wall is finding many different ways to manage the pain. Here's hoping this doesn't become a serious problem in the future.