Top Stories of the Week: New Wizards uniforms, John Wall’s career goals, and the Mystics’ injuries

We are now entering the dog days of summer with August upon us. And even though there isn’t much competitive NBA basketball right now, there’s still plenty of news. So let’s get to the past week’s top stories.

The Wizards will wear the same uniforms with a swoosh next year

On Thursday, the Wizards finally revealed their Nike uniforms for the 2017-18 season. The Wizards will continue to wear the same red and white jerseys they’ve worn since the 2011-12 season.

This is a mild disappointment to some fans because the “Stars and Stripes” alternates won’t be part of the Wizards’ wardrobe next season, according to Scott Allen of The Washington Post. That said, those jerseys could make a comeback in the 2018-19 season considering that they were unexpected hits with the fanbase.

John Wall gives a press conference on his four-year contract extension.

If there’s one quote that defines Wall’s feelings on signing his four-year, $170 million contract extension, it’s this:

Free agency is always a great way to “test the market.” But like Wall mentioned above, if he’s happy in Washington and likes the current direction of the franchise, why not stay in D.C.?

Candace Buckner of The Washington Post added that Wall wanted to stay with the Wizards for the rest of his career. I get that Wall said the right things throughout the course of his career. But let’s consider that his contract extension ends in the 2022-23 season when he would be 33. This contract will last for the duration of his prime. The Wizards haven’t had a franchise player who stayed with one team for his entire career since Wes Unseld. So seeing Wall buy into the Wizards’ vision long term is a hallmark moment for the franchise.

After his presser, Wall answered a number of questions to the media. One of them was in regard to Kyrie Irving trying to leave the Cavaliers so he can be a franchise player somewhere else.

Here’s what Wall said in this recap by Chase Hughes of CSN Mid Atlantic:

"That was crazy to me. I didn't know that was happening at all. Well, too bad," Wall said of the timing. "It's kinda tough. If I had been to three straight [NBA] Finals, I'd want to stay but you never know what type of relationship or what type of details they have going on the backside. Nobody knows what's going on behind closed doors. He's one of those guys who wants to be the main guy.

"It's a different situation when you're playing with a guy like LeBron James who is so dominant. Everyone is always going to be the second guy to him. It's kind of like what I tell all the young guys when they first come into the league. It's kind of tough to get the young guys to play as one on the floor because everybody is trying to build their name up and start their own foundation. It's kind of tough when you're always in the shadow of somebody else. That's something he probably got tired of."

Thank you John for staying true to D.C. And by the way, watch the press conference in the video below:

Mystics suffer more injury woes

Earlier this week, the Mystics announced that Elena Delle Donne will miss about three weeks due to a torn thumb ligament and Natasha Cloud will miss games through at least this Sunday against the Phoenix Mercury due to a plantar fascia tear in her right foot.

Despite all the injuries, Emma Meesseman is as healthy as ever. She dropped 30 points on the Atlanta Dream a week ago and looked like Hakeem Olajuwon and Antawn Jamison at the same time!

Though the Mystics won last Sunday against the Dream, they lost 76-74 on Friday to the San Antonio Stars on the road. They’ll regroup on Sunday against the Mercury at home.

And more links

And here are some more links to close out the week:

• On Friday, we learned John Wall’s NBA 2K rating. It’s a 90. He wasn’t happy about it. Kenny Ducey of Sports Illustrated capped Wall’s Twitter exchange with Ronnie Singh on the matter.
• Capital One is in negotiations with Monumental Sports for the Verizon Center’s naming rights which expire in 2018. It isn’t official yet, but expect the arena to be named the “Capital One Center” or something like that.
• Here’s a breakdown on how the Wizards fared over the past 10 years.
• The Wizards are expected to perform well in the East, but don’t expect them to do so well in the West.
• Bradley Beal isn’t just training for next season. He’s also working on his coaching skills.
• Do you want to see more NBA games in the early afternoon so our European friends in London, Amsterdam, Athens, and Moscow can see them at a more reasonable hour? Discuss here.
• NBA Live is coming back this year, with WNBA teams. Here’s a glimpse on how the Mystics will look like in game action.
• G-Wiz was in Lodz, Poland last weekend when Marcin Gortat hosted his annual celebrity game!

These are just some of the many links that we had over the past week. Have another link that you’d like to share? Feel free to do so in a FanPost or in the comments. Enjoy the rest of your weekends everyone!