John Wall Opens Up About 'Rest Season' with Rockets

It doesn't sound like Wall and the Rockets were in agreement on the decision.

Apr 10, 2021; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) dribbles while being defended by Houston Rockets guard John Wall (1) during the second quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

After two years away from NBA action, John Wall finally had a chance to set foot on the hardwood again in 2020.

This time, however, he was wearing a different jersey, following the trade that sent him to the Houston Rockets.

The Rockets hoped to convince James Harden to stay with the franchise, despite him making it known that he was also ready for a new beginning.

Harden eventually got his way, as the Rockets aborted the mission and pressed the restart button after the 2020-21 season kicked off.

As for Wall, he proved his ability to bounce back from injury and remain playing at a high level, averaging 20.6 points and 6.9 assists in his first season in Houston.

By the start of his second season in H-Town, the Rockets emphasized the development of their younger, less polished players.

This meant Wall no longer had a role on the team, prompting him to sit out the entire 2021-22 season, as both sides waited for a trade partner, which never materialized.

Wall took to The Players Tribune's Knuckleheads podcast to share his thoughts on the situation, expressing regret over his handling of it.

"I think that's something that if I could go back and do it again, I would do it a different way. But at that time, I'm too competitive, I'm a dog."

Wall continued.

"They told me, we know you can win this spot. You're going to have that spot if we play you, but we don't want to go that route.

And I'm like damn, why? We had an okay year last year. We weren't bad.

At that time, you can't tell me going into training camp, [if you were to line me and someone else up and allow us to compete for a spot]. I feel like I'm going to beat out everybody. Unless you've got like an All-NBA player playing in front of me that's that guy, I feel like I'm going to win that spot.

That was difficult to deal with, especially coming off of injury, then having a good year your first year back. And they don't really want you to play and all I want to do is play.

I just missed two years."

Wall explained the mental shift that took place upon accepting the situation.

"When I got to that point, I was like 'My job is to mentor them now.' Be the vet to them. And they all were asking me questions like 'How do I do this, how do I do that'. I'm telling them in the game and they were coming to me on the sidelines like I had a clipboard.

And they're begging [the Rockets] to play me. They wanted to play with me. Because we would scrimmage in practice or play 1-on-1 or 2-on-2. They were like 'he can help us.' Those young guys wanted to win." 

Wall and the Rockets eventually agreed to a buyout following the 2021-22 season.

Wall signed with the LA Clippers following the buyout, who eventually traded him to the Rockets once more. The former No. 1 pick has continued to keep himself in shape, in hopes of landing a role as a veteran player and/or Udonis Haslem type of role as a player-coach.

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