[Photo cred: Jason Miller/Getty Images]
From the very onset of the season there was much ado about EVERYTHING regarding John Wall.
It began with the anticipated offseason knee surgery, except that it was reported Wall went ahead and got both knees operated on, which had us vexed like the lady in Stepbrothers when John C. Reilly unexpectedly popped his head out from behind Will Ferrell during their job interview.
Then came the inevitable pessimism of fans, crying #SoWizards wondering if he'll be rehabbed in time.
The bromance drama series between Wall and Bradley Beal (now canceled) was also annoying.
The season began and Wall was healthy enough to play but his knees still fragile enough to need rest on certain games, usually the second game of a back-to-back. How will the Wizards cope? They wouldn't. They started 2-8. Reports of Wall's angst over the team's situation and rumors of him wanting out started to swirl. Times were bad and Andrew Nicholson made them worse. No doubt the state of basketball discourse in the DMV was depressing. Just like it always was.
Well it's March now and if you been gone a long time you'll realize John Wall don't shine shoes no more. Rather the man who plays the role of Tupac as part of #DeathRowDC *caught a plane out to Cleveland late last Saturday evening* to help his teammate clean up some Cavaliers and dominate the world champions on their home floor in a game of titanic playoff implications.
He goes pound for pound with Kyrie Irving in a first quarter shooting bout, and ends up out-dueling him for the night after making 13 of 17 shots.
He makes that one player touted as the best in the world look foolish the way he plucks the ball from his hands and knocks down a pull up 3 on the other end, like the school bully who stole your lunch money and then stared at you while he sipped on your chocolate milk pouch.
After all Wall has endured this year, and after some recent team struggles, he needed Saturday night to be big. He needed Saturday night to show a semi-national audience privileged enough to have an NBA TV subscription that he can not only hang against Kyrie and LeBron, he can outlast them. He needed Saturday night to be the culmination of a season turnaround so special. And sure enough it was. Saturday night became exactly what he needed.
Despite games of 52 and 39 points this season, Wall's night in Cleveland may very well be the better performance if you take into consideration the importance of game and quality of opponent, not to mention they won this game. Scoring 52 is a great feat but even greater if you do it without losing to the awful Magic. His 39 in Portland was fantastic but it just wasn't Cleveland.
Coming into the game on Saturday, both the Cavs and Wizards were clinging on to their respective spots in the playoff standings by the tips of Mufasa's claws, with Scar looming to displace them. The Cavs were just one game up on the Celtics at the top, while the Raptors were just one game behind the Wizards for 3rd.
This game was important, and John Wall declared its importance from the jump by scoring 18 points in the first quarter and making his first eight shots. He finished with 37 points on 21 shots, had 11 assists all while committing just 3 turnovers. Moreover, the Wizards beat the top-seeded Cavs by 12 points to open up a 5-game road trip. This win was important.
How Wall and the Wizards perform over their final nine will be is a captivating mystery, but the hope is their big win in Cleveland becomes their springboard to gain added impetus and finish the season strong.
One thing is for certain: the Wizards put the world on notice the previous time they faced the Cavs in DC despite losing a thriller in overtime. John Wall delivered the world its second notice with a redeeming win on Saturday night. The Final Notice should be in your mailbox sometime this May.
As a love piece parting gift, I leave you with five of John Wall's finest moments from his monstrous night in Cleveland:
