John Wall‘s basketball career has come to a close. On Tuesday morning, Wall announced on Instagram that he is retiring from playing the game as he moves on to the next chapter of his life. The 6-foot-4 native of North Carolina hasn’t been on an NBA roster since he was a member of the LA […]
John Wall‘s basketball career has come to a close.
On Tuesday morning, Wall announced on Instagram that he is retiring from playing the game as he moves on to the next chapter of his life. The 6-foot-4 native of North Carolina hasn’t been on an NBA roster since he was a member of the LA Clippers for 34 games during the 2022-23 season. Wall, who turns 35 next month, played 11 years professionally after his legendary one-and-done season at Kentucky in 2009-10.
Although Wall says he’s done playing professionally, he’s not done with basketball entirely. “Retired, but never done,” he said in his announcement video.
For this writer, Wall’s retirement hits especially close to home. His commitment to Kentucky, which kicked off the John Calipari era and made it endlessly cool to be a Wildcat fan, came at a key time in my early high school days. Wall helped erase the two-year disaster that was Billy Gillispie’s tenure as head coach, leading Kentucky to an Elite 8 appearance while being named the SEC Player of the Year. His game-winning shot in his debut against Miami (OH) is etched into my memory forever. We can’t forget the cultural impact the John Wall Dance had on the state, as well. He was inducted into the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017.
After helping put Kentucky back on the map as the premier college basketball program, Wall went on to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards. He quickly became a D.C. star over the next nine seasons, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting before making five All-Star teams and even finishing top 10 in MVP voting during the 2016-17 campaign. Across his pro career, Wall averaged 18.7 points and 8.9 assists per outing.
Unfortunately, injuries began to pile up right as he was reaching his peak. Wall was able to cash in on millions upon millions of dollars in contract money before his body broke down, but he was ultimately forced to miss the entire 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons. After playing 78 games in 2016-17, he failed to play more than 41 games in any of the following seasons, which includeed short stints with the Rockets and Clippers.
But now, one of the most impactful Kentucky athletes of all time is hanging it up. Just go ahead and put me in the retirement home.
Category: Basketball
