John Wall important in Washington, on and off the court
Corrections & Clarifications: This story had been amended to correct the surname of Miyah Telemaque-Nelson, the 5-year-old lymphoma patient whom John Wall befriended before her December death.
WASHINGTON – John Wall realized and appreciated the double meaning as soon as he said the words.
He spent the previous day with eight kids from Washington, D.C. and took them to lunch and on a holiday shopping trip just before Christmas. Wall smiled, discussing the shopping tendencies of the young kids who choose several less expensive gifts vs. the older kids who preferred for big-ticket items such as an Xbox.
"It's better to give than to receive," Wall said.
Fitting for a player who loves to set teammates up for buckets and does it as well as any point guard in the league right now.
All things Wizards: Latest Washington Wizards news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.
Wall leads all guards (and tied for the tops among all players) in double-doubles with 19, is averaging a double-double (17.2 points and 10.3 assists) and is the primary reason the Wizards are 22-11 and are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
After concern about whether it would happen in this manner, Wall has arrived, and there's more to his game, the 24-year-old Wall said.
"I'm far away from reaching my full potential to be honest," Wall told USA TODAY Sports. "My biggest goal is to get this team to the Finals. That's our goal. We had a taste of the playoffs, and we feel we're a team that's clicking and has the right pieces. It's just about us building our championship mentality."
Wall has put himself into the MVP discussion, and fans have noticed. He leads Eastern Conference guards in the All-Star voting, ahead of Dwyane Wade, Kyrie Irving, Derrick Rose and Kyle Lowry among others.
"No matter if I average 30 and we're losing, you're going to talk about me individually but not in a team concept and I'm more of a team guy," Wall said of the recognition. "If I'm playing well and my team's winning, that speaks for itself."
The full breadth of John Wall the player and person are on display this season. He is one of the league's top point guards and the size of Wall's heart fills up rooms.
On Dec. 8, Wall had 26 points and 17 assists in a double overtime victory against the Boston Celtics. In a postgame interview on the court with the Wizards' TV partner, Wall broke down in tears, grieving the loss of 5-year-old Miyah Telemaque-Nelson, a lymphoma patient he befriended.
It wasn't just a one-time meet-and-greet for Wall. They met and FaceTimed often, and her death crushed Wall, who posted this message on Instagram: "It's been difficult, losing Miyah hurts. She touched me in so many ways and her impact will live on forever, not just in my heart but also in the lives of so many of you that have come to love her too. Thanks to everyone for their words of encouragement and support during this past week."
And on what would've been her sixth birthday on Wednesday, Wall encouraged donations to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the American Cancer Society.
"I always knew who I was," Wall said of his efforts to make a difference.
There are certain philanthropic endeavors the team needs to publicize for the NBA Cares program. But Wall doesn't have to do much of what he does and much of what he is does isn't publicized by the team.
"John's a good person. Always has been," Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld said. "He's done a tremendous amount of work in the community – not only this year but in the past. But maybe some things have been more in the forefront this year that have been public. He's always been that type of person. He has a good heart and wants to give back."
Wall credits his mom, Frances Pulley, for instilling a desire to give back.
"That's who made me want to push and dedicate myself to this game that I love to play just for fun," Wall said. "But seeing the efforts she went through just to make sure me and my sisters and brother could be alright. My mom raised me well.
"I'm a humble kid and still enjoy everything that I do. I've been put in a situation where I can be beneficial to others. It's an opportunity to give back. I want to see my community do well."
And Wall's community – family, friends teammates or Wizards fans – are thrilled to see Wall do well. He went through a lot of losing in Washington while Grunfeld rebuilt the roster and eliminated problems. It resulted in 23, 20 and 29 wins in Wall's first three seasons.
Wall's ability to turn into an elite NBA point guard was also questioned, too. Could he become one of the league's top point guards or was he destined to be just good but not great during the golden age of NBA point guards? It could have gone either way, really, and Wall made sure it went one way.
"Dedicating myself to watching a lot more film, studying guys and working on my game really helped," Wall said.
Wall entered the NBA with tremendous athletic ability and discovered that would only get him so far in a league full of athletically gifted players.
"I said there's no way I can be in this league and let defenders keep going under screens and daring me to shoot," Wall said. "For me to make my teammates better and make myself a lot better and the job easier for the group, I had to knock those shots down. Now, I'm knocking it down with more consistency and teams have to guard me differently which opens up more passing lanes for my teammates to make plays."
Wall isn't an outstanding shooter, but he makes enough shot to keep defenses honest, allowing him to do what he does best: create and find the open shooter or convert shots near the basket.
Wall also has worked on his decision-making, trying to keep his dribble alive or avoiding jumping with no shot or pass available. "I'm probing a lot more, making the right reads and making the simple play and not going for the home run every time," Wall said.
Before this season, Wizards forward Paul Pierce only knew Wall as an opponent. Then, Pierce joined the Wizards and that changed his opinion of Wall.
"When you're on the outside looking in as a competitor, you don't really know a player until you're around him," Pierce said. "I always thought he was a talented player, a really good player but I didn't really know him. That's how you go about it.
"I see how he not only wants to be good but he wants to be great – about his habits every day, how he's approaching every game, how he studies the game. He's a student of the game. Those are the things you really don't know when you're not around a person. I knew he had great talent and all. But I didn't know too much about him on the inside. But just being here, he wants to be great. He wants to be one of the best."
Even through Washington's tough seasons during Wall's first three seasons, Grunfeld and his staff have been building a team with Wall as the centerpiece.
"From day one, we knew John had the physical abilities and we also know that he's a good person – the type of person you want in your organization long-term because of the things he does on the court and off the court," Grunfeld said. "He's improved as a leader. He's improved certain aspects of his game. On the defensive end, he's really taken his game to a different level. Offensively, he does make everyone around him better.
"The thing I've always like most about John is that he has a burning desire to win and he's a great competitor."
It's Wall's team, and he didn't fully realize that until a team meeting last season when then-Wizards swingman Trevor Ariza put the onus of leadership on Wall.
"Trevor said, 'John, tell us what you think everybody's role is.' I told everybody what their role is," Wall said. "Everybody respected that. From that day forward, I've had a better sense of being a leader and being more confident in myself."
With Wall's penchant for passing, Wizards center Marcin Gortat said, "It's fun to play with him."
Gortat is shooting 55.6% on passes from Wall, and 65 of Wall's assists have been to Gortat, more than any other player and just ahead of the 63 assists Wall has thrown to Pierce.
It's not just pick-and-rolls with Gortat and Nene. Wall is finding the open man on the perimeter, too. Bradley Beal is shooting 46.2% on three pointers and Rasual Butler is shooting 48.8% on three-pointers assisted by Wall.
According to NBA.com's SportVu player-tracking data, Wall is second in secondary – or hockey – assists at 1.9 per game, second in free throw assists (passes that led to free throw points but no assist credited) at 1.2 per game and second in points created by assists per 48 minutes at 32.6 per game.
"John has the rare ability to make players around him better. He's doing it this year in a much more efficient manner," Grunfeld said.
Wall's play has elevated expectations for the Wizards who beat the Chicago Bulls in the first round and lost to the Indiana Pacers in the conference semifinals last season. Getting to the conference finals this season would be a significant step.
"Now, you have guys wanting to come and play in D.C.," Wall said. "In the past, not many considered coming here. We're on the right page but we have a lot more building and growing to do and we just want to keep getting better and better."