John Wall made his return to the Wizards lineup on Saturday night with 15 points and 14 assists to lead Washington to a comfortable 107-93 win over the Hornets. Wall missed two months after having surgery to clean up his knee and in that time the Wizards went on quite the rollercoaster ride.
With Wall out, Washington had stretches of brilliance that led some to question whether they were better off without the All-Star and included some hints at that idea from within the locker room. More recently, the Wizards have looked flat without their point guard and made it a worthwhile question to ask if they would even have a chance to make it out of the first round of the playoffs.
Now that Wall is back, the Wizards hope to find some consistent success as they get ready for the postseason. While it’s obviously a small sample size and a favorable matchup for Washington, the win over Charlotte was encouraging moving forward. One thing we know is that Wall himself will look different in his return.
That’s not because he’s a different player returning from injury, but that he physically looks different because he’s decided to grow his hair back out, a departure from the look fans have grown accustomed to from Wall dating back to his Kentucky days. As Wall explained to Yahoo Sports’ Michael Lee, the decision to grow his hair out (currently in the form of twists) stemmed from boredom and a desire to have braids one more time.
Wall later explained that “boredom” during his most extended time away from the game in five seasons led him to change his appearance, ditching the mostly clean-cut look he’s had since his time at Kentucky. “Just me going back to my ‘Crazy J’ days,” Wall told Yahoo Sports as he took the stairs to his car after growing impatient with the elevator. “They used to call me that in high school. I was like, ‘Forget it, why not do it?’ And I’m going into the summer, so just try the braids again, one more time in my life.”
Any man entering his late 20s can understand this sentiment from Wall, as most of us have started dreading the potential future when we have to take it off and fade into baldness. Wall, to my knowledge, has not shown any signs of balding, but you don’t ever want to wait until it’s too late to grow it out one last time and enjoy the blessing that is a full head of hair. Wall is going for braids this summer and I commend him and wish him luck on his journey. The clock is ticking for all of our follicles, so if you can, grow it out.
