John Wall recently announced his retirement from the NBA two years after the league.
Wall remembers best of nine seasons with Washington Wizard from 2010 to 2019.
He was widely considered one of the best point guards in the NBA behind Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul.
Unfortunately, consecutive long-term injuries meant he didn’t end his professional basketball career in the way he liked.
Boston Celtics guard Derrick White reflects the surprising things that happened before Wall was drafted into the NBA.
John Wall’s talent was well known to basketball fans long before he was drafted by the Washington Wizard in 2010.
Wall was a high school talent for both Garner Magnet and Word of God, and was invited to perform at the Nike Hoop Summit and Jordan Brand Classic.
The 5-star recruit had perhaps the best mixtape of his players. Derrick White remembers watching at the time.
“I feel he’s in the top five of the consensus. That’s (cautious). He’s probably in the top three,” White said on the podcast.
“John Wall was crazy. I think anyone who’s left-handed would automatically look cool.
“He was one of the first people I really paid attention to, and that might be why I like him so much. I was watching John Wall’s mixtapes like, ‘This is so great.’
He then made another bold claim about Wall’s high school basketball career.
Derrick White also spoke about his first interaction with John Wall in a regular season game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets.
The Celtic Star was particularly impressed with the speed of the wall, despite having already undergone surgery on his knee and Achilles tendon by then.
“Legend. John is special. He has always been very kind to me,” White recalled his first direct impression of the wall.
“We were competing in Houston once and he smacked three people. I got off and smacked three people. It was like, ‘Thank you, John.’
“I didn’t expect that from him. This was after the judgement and he was still fast. Before his injury, and before I was in the league, I could only imagine how fast he was and how fast he was protecting him.
“The Washington team was fun to watch. I wish you good luck with your retirement.”