Former No. 1 overall pick and five-time NBA All-Star John Wall has announced his retirement, publishing a video on social media to confirm his decision (Instagram link).
“I’ve been chasing a ball since I could barely walk. Driveways, parks, packed gyms, 5:00 am workouts,” Wall said over a video montage of his career highlights. “I gave this game everything I had, from Raleigh to Kentucky to the league. Every jersey I’ve worn meant more than just wins and stats. It was about representing something bigger, and it’s something I couldn’t do without you.
“To my family, my mom especially, thank you for all your sacrifices. I hope I made you proud. To my teammates, trainers, and coaches, thank you for believing in me. And to the fans, you made me feel unstoppable.
“Today I’m stepping off the court, but not away from the game. Basketball will always be in my life. As new opportunities present themselves, I feel now is the time to walk confidently into my next chapter. Thank you for every cheer, every moment. Retired, but never done, I’m doing it the Wall way.”
Drafted first overall by the Wizards in 2010 after earning SEC Player of the Year honors as a freshman at Kentucky, Wall almost immediately emerged as Washington’s full-time starting point guard and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting.
The 6’3″ guard, known for his speed and athleticism, remained in D.C. for 10 seasons, receiving five straight All-Star nods from 2014-18, making an All-Defensive team in 2015 and earning All-NBA third team honors (and MVP votes) in 2017.
However, a series of leg injuries, including a torn Achilles, slowed down Wall during his last few seasons with the Wizards. He was traded to Houston during the 2020 offseason, but was limited to just 40 appearances in his first year with the Rockets due to ongoing health issues, then reached a mutual decision to remain away from the team in his second year in Houston. Wall’s last season in the NBA came in 2022/23, when he made 34 outings for the Clippers.
In total, Wall appeared in 647 NBA regular season games, making 604 starts, and averaged 18.7 points, 8.9 assists, and 4.2 rebounds in 34.9 minutes per contest, with a career shooting line of .430/.322/.776.
Reporting as recently as December 2024 indicated that Wall hadn’t given up on making an NBA comeback, but after no opportunities materialized this past season, the veteran – who will turn 35 next month – has decided to call it a career.
Shortly after Wall made his announcement, the Wizards put out a social media post congratulating him on his retirement and referring to him as “one of our franchise all-time greats” (Twitter link).
I don’t believe he will be, but anyone think that Wall has a chance at the HOF?
19,4,9 and 1.5 ain’t nothing.
IMO, no chance. Then again, basketball always has a strange Hall of Fame, so who knows.
Basketball-reference has his HOF probability at 32.4%
Nah, 1 All-NBA, 1 All-Defense and 5 time All-star ain’t gonna get it done. He doesn’t have any international accolades either so I can’t see it.
5x All-Star actually has him close
No chance but I’m sure the wizards will retire his jersey
Great career. A fun and dynamic player to watch. If only that J was a little bit better he would have been unstoppable.
“ He was traded to Houston during the 2020 offseason, but was limited to just 40 appearances across two seasons with the Rockets due to ongoing health issues”
This is incorrect. Houston wanted to go with the youth movement so they benched him then bought him out, it wasn’t injuries that kept him from playing
Good call on year two. Updated the wording to reflect that.
Do the Wizards retire his number? Hasn’t been worn since he’s been there
I would hope so. His era was the best era in the past 45 years, and will still probably be their best in at least the next 5
I dont know, he was a phenomenal player for them but I dont know if it calls for a jersey retirement.
If they retire his, they will have tor retire Beal’s too.
I don’t think they need to retire Beal’s number if they retire Wall’s. Wall was an excellent passer and ball handler, and a very good scorer and defender who could rebound his position sufficiently.
Beal was a very good scorer but not better than moderately good in any other facet of the game. He was a particularly bad defender and rebounder for his position, although I don’t hold the rebounding against him much since he’s on the shorter side for a 2 guard.
Wall was a much better player, IMO… it just isn’t reflected in counting stats due to injury.
Beal’s #3 hasn’t been issued since he left either fwiw
Wall was great for the league. I don’t remember many controversies surrounding him just a lot of highlights and fun basketball. Wasn’t a fan of the Wizards but I enjoyed watching him and Beal play together. Fun young backcourt even if it didn’t materialize into anything great.
You don’t remember the Dougie controversy?!??!
He was an extremely exciting player, not quite Derrick Rose, but a nice imitation on a few nights…and he was a much better passer for the rest of them.
John Wall is gonna be even better in the Big3 than he was in the NBA & I can’t wait to see it
A legend on his own right! John Wall was iconic
Wall had some really good years. And he got the Wizards to be a playoff team. He’s not a HOFer to me.
He could have came back and still make a difference. You change your game an adapt like Livingston did. Plenty of others have done. Ge was 28 when he had his injury. He played no D and didn’t even want to play. He had already got paid. It’s too bad.
I wish Embid and George would retire so the Sixers can move forward.
Pretty sure he retired several years ago.
He has not been in the league – nor has he been playing any kind of organized basketball, as far as I remember – since February 2023. So yes, effectively, he has already been retired for 2,5 years, although he has often stated in interviews and podcasts that he has been working out and hoping to return to the NBA. That, however, has never materialized.
It has been somewhat of a trend in recent years that former NBA players announce their retirement only after years of inactivity. Carmelo, Rondo, Zach Randolph come to mind, I’m sure there’ve also been others too. Don’t know that announcements like these are about getting publicity one last time, or serve the purpose of giving some kind of a closure to these guys when they finally accept that they are no longer able to play in the NBA anymore. Maybe both.
Letting Hartenstein walk so they could sign Wall was such a big mistake by the Clippers.