John Wall Ripped Into The Wizards’ Lack Of Effort After He Scored 52 Points In A Loss

John Wall posted a career-high 52 points during Tuesday’s game against the Orlando Magic, but it wasn’t enough to lead the Washington Wizards to victory. Beyond that, Wall’s efforts came in a home game in which his team was at full strength and facing off against an opponent with a sub-.500 record. Somewhat predictably, the All-Star guard came away with a certain level of frustration with the result.

In addressing the media after the 124-116 loss, Wall was asked if he was disappointed that the team’s defensive effort was still a topic of discussion. His answer expanded beyond how hard his team plays on that side of the ball.

“Not even just defensive effort. Just playing hard. Our job is to wake up and just play hard. Before you made it to the NBA or got any college scholarships, you played hard every day to get to where you wanted to. To still be talking about playing hard, that’s something that you should be able to just do waking up. Everybody got a job where they have to go in and work hard, our job is to come in, play hard and compete. That’s the easiest thing that shouldn’t have to do with any contracts or any money. You just come in and play basketball.”


Those comments seem to be biting in the direction of his teammates and, when asked why the effort isn’t happening, Wall said, “I don’t know. If I had the answer, we wouldn’t be in this situation we’re in right now, to be honest.”

Following the loss to the Magic, the Wizards boast an unsightly 7-13 record despite the best efforts of Wall, who accumulated his 52 points on 18-for-31 shooting to go along with eight assists and three steals. For the most part, Washington has operated with relative health in the supporting cast, and while the bench has been a glaring issue throughout the season, Wall’s frustrations seemed to boil over with his entire team following a situation in which the best player excelled at the highest level and it did not frankly matter.

The Washington Wizards continue to struggle. Hopefully this doesn’t lead to John Wall reaching some kind of breaking point.

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