John Wall committed the second-most turnovers in basketball a year ago. He coughed the ball up on 304 occasions in 2014-15, just 17 fewer miscues than James Harden’s league-leading mark. And in efforts to curb his tendency to give the ball away, the Washington Wizards point guard has decided to give himself a little extra incentive this season.
In a story detailing Wall’s ever intense and unwavering drive for success, Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post notes that he’ll be paying a team assistant $100 for every contest in which he turns the ball over more than twice.
[Wall] also wants to improve his shot selection and turnover rate. To incentivize the cause, Wall will pay assistant coach Howard Eisley $100 for every game he commits more than two turnovers. Worst-case scenario, that’s a $8,200 loss.
“So that means take care of the ball,” Wall said.
The two-time All-Star isn’t the first floor general to draw from his bank account with regard to turnovers. After he began last season uncharacteristically careless with the basketball, Steph Curry began paying his mother money every time he committed more than two miscues.
Why was early play of the the Golden State Warriors superstar marked by turnovers in 2014-15? He was running a new offense that stressed pace and ball movement above all else. Wall and the Wizards are undergoing a similar adjustment this season as Randy Wittman implements a breakneck system designed around quick-hitting ball-screens and shooters spacing the floor.
Needless to say, that wholesale shift in ideology could lead to Wall turning the ball over more in 2015-16 than he did last season. Fortunately for him, though, even the maximum potential penalty of $8,200 would be a blip on his financial records – the 25-year-old is due an approximate salary of $16 million this year.
This incentive program isn’t about money, of course, but Wall is doing everything he can to reach the next level as a player. And if his obvious, unceasing desire to improve is an indication of strides to come on the court this season, Washington seems primed to emerge as a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference.
(Via The Washington Post)
