I think everyone would agree that peak Wall > the very best Beal

I went to the Lakers game last season when they came to town, Lebron’s first year in LA . It was a rout, the Wizards cruised to a seemingly easy win. The best player on the floor that night BY FAR was John Wall. That was the night I decided to finally ease up on him, because I saw in person just how special he could be. He was ferocious, and he played SMART - not a ton of bullshit 3s (cuz he’s still not that great a shooter), but just attacking the rim at will and drawing fouls and getting into transition with a blinding speed. It was a marvel to watch.

The very next night, or maybe two nights later, they went to lowly Atlanta and got drummed and played like shit, Wall included. The joke in DC sports talk radio was that the Lakers game was an apparition, basically just Wall auditioning for Lebron (at the time, Ingram and Ball were still Lakers “assets” mind you, and Wall is also a Klutch Sports guy.)

I don’t know what it would take to unlock John Wall’s truly elite potential - he really does have Westbrook speed and Kyrie driving ability, but he’s oddly selective in deciding when he wants to play at that level. Now maybe it’s a larger conversation to be had, a conversation about a rotten organizational culture that doesn’t now breed and has never bred anything great (TRUE), or about the lack of respected vets on the team the last few years and in the league in general (TRUE)...basically, no one to hold him accountable or challenge him to be more. My naive hope is that he comes out of this injury with a greater appreciation of himself and just how special he really can be.