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John Wall hasn’t received much national attention this year, at least in a positive light. The Wizards started poorly, so that didn’t help. But for whatever reason, he isn’t one of the “chosen guards” in today’s era where most teams have a bumper crop of at least decent backcourt talent.
That said, the Wizards have gone 21-11 in their last 32 games after a pitiful 2-8 start. Much of that is because of Wall’s play in December and this month. In fact, Wall was December’s Eastern Conference Player of the Month. He’s also averaging career highs in scoring (23.1 ppg) and assisting (10.3 apg) on a winning team. Ultimately, more national attention is bound to come sooner rather than later.
Though Wall wasn’t named an Eastern Conference All-Star for the 2017 All-Star Game, he made it into the Top 10 of Sekou Smith’s Race to the MVP Ladder rankings. He was 10th. If you’re wondering who else made the rankings, here they are:
- James Harden, PG, Rockets
- Russell Westbrook, PG, Thunder
- Kevin Durant, SF, Warriors
- LeBron James, SF, Cavaliers
- Isaiah Thomas, PG, Celtics
- Stephen Curry, PG, Warriors
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, SF, Bucks
- Kawhi Leonard, SF, Spurs
- DeMar DeRozan, SG, Raptors
- John Wall, PG, Wizards
The NBA season is just halfway over, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. But the bottom line is that things are trending up for Washington right now. And when they do, Wall will get more recognition beyond the most powerful city in the world.