Despite his knee surgery that will sideline him a total of six-to-eight weeks, Washington Wizards point guard John Wall made the trip out to Los Angeles to take in his fifth consecutive All-Star Weekend. He fielded questions from reporters for over 18 minutes and here are the most interesting things he had to say. He says his favorite All-Star experience was the Slam Dunk contest, he does not like cheese, and he would like to try snowboarding. Wall shared that he will be going back to school this summer as he continues to work towards his business degree. Aside from himself, Wall thinks Kelly Oubre may be the best trash talker on the team. Keep reading for full quotes from Wall on intriguing topics.
On Wizards success without him:
“They’ve been playing great. Everybody expected me to be mad or upset, but that’s what you supposed to do when someone goes down, next man suppose to step up. I’m happy for them. Tomas has been great for us. Everybody has been playing well. Brad has been leading the team. It makes my job a lot easier where I don’t feel like I have any pressure to comeback any earlier and these guys keep playing the way they are, it makes my job a lot easier.”
On what people think about recent “shots fired” drama:
“People are always going to have that perception about what you are, what you say at any point in time so, I always speak my mind and it doesn’t really matter.”
On his relationship with Bradley Beal and Marcin Gortat:
“I have a great relationship. Everybody expects for me to have a bad relationship, but every team, everybody you always going to go through adversity. That’s when you know you are a family. You build your team and make them stronger. It’s just adversity we went through, and you move past it.”
On if they have talked to air things out:
“We had meetings. We’re grown men. We talk 1-on-1, but that’s locker room talk, it sticks [stays] in there.”
On NBA players using their platform for social change:
“We have a right to be and speak on anything we want to. I think LeBron posted something or I’ve seen other athletes say, I’m more than an athlete. … We’re more than just play basketball. When our game is over, whenever you retire, and the basketball stop bouncing, we still have to find something else to do. … You have to believe on anything you stand on. We’re more than athletes and stuff that is going on in our society and this world, we have to speak on it and I think we have the right to say whatever we want.”
On giving back:
“To have the opportunity to be the NBA player that I am, to give back to the community. Like I always tell people, a lot of people can do it and just because they are told to, I do it because I love to. I love to give back, I love to be involved with the kids. I like to show these kids that no matter what you are, what you go through in life, I’ve been through some of the most ups and downs you ever can go through. But, whatever you do, you still can give 110 percent and effort to it. You can be anything you want in this world.”
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