Last week, John Wall woke up with a migraine headache that put into question his participation against the Brooklyn Nets that Friday night. Wall walked into the arena with his hood up, sunglasses on and a jug of water in his right hand. He looked like someone stuck with a busy construction site hammering away in his skull.
It was the perfect opportunity to rest Wall. He was ailing, the Wizards were playing the woeful Brooklyn Nets, and a five-game road trip started the next night in Cleveland. Wall is also averaging the second-most minutes of his career.
Instead, Wall started, played well and performed better the next evening in a resounding win against the Cavaliers to start the road trip.
A different player, with a different coach, might have sat out against Brooklyn.
But Wall is bent on playing in almost any situation. Two seasons ago, he played with a broken hand in the playoffs. Last season, his knees ached throughout, yet he played until he was unable to straighten his leg. He had two offseason knee surgeries to fix the problems in each leg. He’s endured other dings and pushed them aside.
His coach, Scott Brooks, was the youngest of seven kids. He and his siblings were sent into onion fields during weekends to help their single mom pay for housing and food. These two are not programmed to rest just to take a break, a move that has gained traction in the NBA since San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich first started resting stars consistently a handful of years ago.
“That’s obviously a hot topic now,” Brooks said recently. “I get everybody’s perspective. There’s a lot of things to be said about that. There’s certain cases and certain examples and certain players that probably need it. But, that’s very rare, in my opinion. You’re talking basketball. It’s 32 minutes a night. This is not hard work. This is fun. Rest… To me, rest is a good night sleep. I’ve seen coaches and players do it in the beginning of the season. Or do it after a All-Star break. To me, rest is a good night’s rest and taking care of your body, being prepared to play.
“Hard work is a lot of things a lot of people do other than athletes and coaches. Not knocking what we do, it’s hard to get here and we’re all blessed and privileged. But, the rest thing, it’s blown out of proportion in my opinion.”
Wall has often said he plans to play as long as something is not broken. He sprained his left foot in the second quarter on March 15 against the Dallas Mavericks after an awkward landing. He eventually rose, then limped to the locker room. Wall’s return was listed as questionable because of the sprain. Instead, he came out of the locker room at the end of halftime, started the third quarter and played 20 minutes the rest of the game. After the game, Wall said he was just going to listen to the trainers and see what was next. He didn’t miss any time.
Brooks has searched for ways to reduce Wall’s minutes on the court. He’s remolded the rotation multiple times. Washington acquired a veteran backup point guard, Brandon Jennings, after the trade deadline. Yet, Wall’s minutes have increased.
Another chance to give Wall a break is coming up Tuesday. Washington, which has clinched a playoff spot with nine games remaining, plays the first game of a back-to-back in Los Angeles. The opening game is against the 21-52 Lakers, who have the worst record in the Western Conference coming into Monday. The next night, Wall will have to deal with perennial All-Star Chris Paul and the Clippers, who are fifth in the Western Conference.
Beyond his general stance to play unless severely damaged, Wall has two other things on his mind in the final weeks of the regular season. The Wizards came into Monday as No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, a mere game in front of the Toronto Raptors and 2 ½ behind Boston and Cleveland, which are tied atop the standings. When Wall was pulling himself together before warming up against the Nets, he mentioned the Wizards’ position in the standings as a driver for his decision to play.
He is also aware Washington is creeping toward the 50-win mark. At 45-28, the Wizards need to go 5-4 to close the season to hit that total for the first time since 1979. Washington has made it to the playoffs in three of the last four seasons. It has not had a shot at 50 wins during that progress from league also-ran to Eastern Conference competitor.
“That’s the ultimate goal,” Wall said of the 50 wins.
To get there, he will have to play the rest of the way. He and his coach would not have it another way.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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