Wizards’ Wall considering season-ending surgery
Bone spurs in left heel could sideline guard for six to eight months
The Washington Wizards’ season of agony continued Saturday with the potentially season-shifting status of John Wall’s bothersome bone spurs.
After consulting with a foot specialist, Wall is considering surgery on his left heel that could sideline him for six to eight months, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation.
Wall still might pursue other options that may not impact his season as much; however, if he does decide on the corrective procedure, he will join Dwight Howard as the second starter to miss significant time, casting another pall over an already gloomy Wizards season. Washington sits at 13-23, only five games from last place in the Eastern Conference.
Though Wall’s offensive statistics this season have been comparable to his averages from previous all-star seasons (20.7 points, 8.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds per game), he has revealed after several games the extent of his pain. He has managed the bone spurs, which have lingered for years, with treatment and rest, but Wall said he has experienced more flareups than usual this season.
“Some days it’s great. Some days it’s bad,” Wall said Dec. 8 after scoring one point and missing all five of his shots against the Cleveland Cavaliers. “You just got to monitor [it] when it’s good and when it’s bad, don’t try to force the issue and play with that one because it’s kind of hard. You can’t run.
“Other [injuries] you can play through,” Wall explained, “but it’s one of the ones — you can play through it and warm up but today it TV: Radio: just got real hot. It didn’t get no better.”
Last January, Wall underwent arthroscopic debridement procedure in his left knee and missed eight weeks during the Wizards' playoff chase. Although Washington began the season with hopes of improving on last year’s eighthseeded finish and potentially matching with some of the best in the East, the team has spiraled from the beginning.
Howard, who signed a two-year deal with a player option, was never healthy. The team’s best shooters misfired from the arc. The defense could not get in sync. And despite significant changes made this month — two trades, a free agent signing and the promotion of a G League player — the Wizards have lost nine of 14 games with no turnaround in sight.
Wall missed the Wizards’ 101-92 loss to the 10-win Chicago Bulls on Friday night at Capital One Arena, sitting for the second time because of bone spurs in the heel.
“If you have a sore heel and you’re a high-level, elite athlete, it’s going to bother you,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. “And he’s been able to manage it over the years, and now it definitely comes and goes. He has good days and bad days like a lot of guys go through. We all know his toughness and his pain threshold.”
Although the injury has lingered for years, Wall previously revealed he has experienced more discomfort than usual this season. Before a Dec. 8 game in Cleveland, Wall spent time on the trainer’s table. An attempt to manage the pain proved futile that night. Wall endured perhaps the worst game of his nine-year career: 26 minutes, 0-for-5 shooting, six assists, just one point.
Following that 116-101 loss, Wall admitted, “I probably shouldn’t have played.”
Wall operated at just a fraction of his usual speed and power against the Cavaliers, and he could not stay in front of rookie guard Collin Sexton. Although Wall has missed two other games (Dec. 5 because of the birth of his son and last Saturday with an illness), the bone spurs might explain some of his more disconcerting performances.
On Dec. 18 in Atlanta, Wall rarely attacked, taking 11 of his 18 shots from beyond the arc. Five days later at Indiana, he again stayed primarily on the perimeter, shooting four of his seven attempts from three.