John Wall, who will return to Washington for the first time since being traded on Monday, says he was “shocked” when he found out that the Wizards were dealing him away.
“I felt like I deserved the honesty and respect because I’ve been there for 10 years. I’ve been through the bad times,” Wall said (via Fred Katz of The Athletic). “… I never turned my back on the organization. I played through damn near every injury that a lot of people wouldn’t have played through. I played through broken hands in the playoffs. I think I did everything I could and gave everything I had, heart and soul to the organization on and off the court.”
There were rumblings that the team was looking to move on from Wall leading up to the season and Wall was aware of those.
“Then everybody kept telling me, ‘No, it’s not true. Don’t believe it. Don’t believe it.’ And I’m like, I know Houston probably called them first,” Wall added. “But it’s part of the business. Why wouldn’t you call if somebody wants to be traded? You know what I mean? And it’s not nothing, just having conversations. And that’s all I wanted. If you’re having conversations, that’s cool, I get it. Nobody could ever tell me the truth about it.”
Wall continued, explaining how he found out about the trade. On the eve of the deal, the point guard received a text message from GM Tommy Sheppard saying “PLEASE CALL.” With the rumors circulating for weeks at that point, Wall knew what that meant. Shortly after, he got a call from the Rockets.
