John Wall knows what is said about him. Others shield themselves; he wades into the Twitter snark and other assorted social media derision, filling his tank with motivational fuel.
There is praise there, too, even if just appreciation for all it took to get back from the injuries and surgeries and the seasons lost to rehab before he joined the Rockets.
But he is the veteran point guard for the team with the NBA’s worst record. He has had enormous swings between highs and lows, enough to remind of his five All-Star seasons but to also raise expectations that he would return to that level. Reviews have been less than charitable and he has noticed.
“I read all the haters, the fans,” Wall said. “They say I’m not nothing, or the team’s not nothing. We know this is not the way we wanted the season to go but we dealt with a lot of injuries. We got a team we’re sort of rebuilding, trying to find the pieces to move forward with. But I have a lot of trust in it and know we’ll have a better year next year.”
The Rockets will undoubtedly look different. It would be nearly impossible to have the same sort of injury issues, culminating in Saturday’s game in Denver when they had seven players start the game and six finish with Wall sitting out because it was the second game of a back-to-back. But Wall is integral to much of the Rockets’ revival hopes.
He has played with various ailments, including a sore knee, hip and hamstring. He has missed time, soon after the set of games on consecutive nights that he did play, with those issues.
He has, however, appeared to have regained his athleticism after missing nearly two full seasons because of a ruptured his left Achilles tendon along with surgeries on his left heel and left knee. His speed is not always under control, but it is there. There is a chance that he could be among the many players that are better in the second season after returning from major injuries than the first.
“I still think I’m an All-Star in this league,” Wall said. “I still think I’m a big-time player in this league. In the last two years, there’s a lot of talent that came into this league and there’s a lot of guys that are still in this league that were talented before I got injured. But I feel like when I’m healthy, I can go against the best of them.”
Wall, 30, has two years, $91.67 million left on his contract, the final season with a player option. He has averaged 20.6 points per game, third-most of his career. But his 40.4 percent shooting while taking far more 3-pointers than he ever has, 6.2 per game, is the worst of his 10 NBA seasons. His 6.9 assists per game are a career low.
There have been signs of what he is still capable of doing, including Friday’s first half when he had 16 points and 10 assists, his first double-double half since January 2018, and then took on the assignment of defending the Clippers’ Paul George in the second half. In his previous two games, however, he had made 12 of 33 shots.
He had a stretch after coming back from four games out with injuries in which he scored at least 30 points in three of four games. But he has made 5 of 27 3-pointers in his past five games.
He was sensational down the stretch in leading the Rockets to their win against the Mavericks. But he also produced a meltdown in Minnesota when his late-game, high speed shot selection looked like trying to toss balled up paper in the window of passing cars on the freeway.
Much of those highs and lows could go back to all the time off and how often he has had to miss games, sitting out a third of the season either with injuries or for injury maintenance. There has been no question about his commitment, with Wall showing desire and leadership undiminished by the Rockets’ fall.
“All he has, he’s given to us,” Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. “He’s the first one to speak up in the huddle and get everybody organized, an extension of myself. It means a lot to have him, it means a whole lot because of not just what he’s doing right now but kind of because of the story, where he came from and what he’s been through the last few years.
“Nobody really thought he would be able to play at a level, probably, too close to what he’s playing right now. He’s proving a lot of people wrong and proving a lot to a lot of people. I’m his biggest fan.”
Wall said he expects more next season because of the way he can prepare that he could not after the long layoff. After spending the fall searching for competition to measure himself, he can concentrate on training again. But even that plan is based on the certainty that he is back, able to do what he could not through the long rehab process while determined to do more.
“My job this season was to come back and show people that I still have a lot left in the tank. I think I’ve proven that,” Wall said. “The most important thing is for me to have a great summer by keeping my body healthy, preparing myself for an 82-game season.
“It’s a little different. I pushed myself more last summer working out and trying to play pickup to see where I got because I didn’t have the opportunity to play for two years. I think I put people on notice that I still have a lot left. My job is to try to help this franchise win.”
jonathan.feigen@chron.com
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