Bedlam bolstering performance
Wizards starting to get on a roll despite all distractions off court
The Washington Wizards cozy when in chaos.
While headlines about the team focus on everything but actual basketball and the din of scrutiny grows louder by the day, for some inconceivable reason, the Wizards look stable. They look like they care on the court. They play hard and play together. And in one of their toughest stretches of the early calendar, they have beaten three Western Conference teams that should all be in the playoffs by the time this regular season drags to an end.
The Wizards are playing their best basketball of the young season at a time when the tumult has ratcheted up to 10. Just over the last few weeks, John Wall was accused of partying too much. Verbal altercations disrupted a Nov. 15 practice then leaked out into the public. A report indicated Washington was open to listening to all trade scenarios, even involving all-stars Wall and Bradley Beal. A former in-game host went on a Twitter rant against team President Ernie Grunfeld the morning after he was celebrated by the Wizards and the former video coordinator “confirmed” an account that Beal wants to escape Washington.
Even for 11-year veteran center Jason Smith, who knows what it’s like being over-covered during his lone season with the New York Knicks (2014-15), the first 20 games have produced an unusual amount of attention.
“We got a lot of news coverage, that’s for sure,” Smith said. “Whether it’s good or bad, we’ve got a lot of coverage.”
And Monday, while under the microscope again, Washington rallied from a 17-point deficit in the first quarter and survived a 54-point night from MVP James Harden to defeat the Houston Rockets in overtime, 135-131.
The game was entertaining and the atmosphere created by the announced crowd of 16,872 was electric and yet, it was ignored by those who only watch the Wizards while sip-
feel ping tea. An ESPN national radio producer shared a tweet to his 50,000 followers about the teams going into overtime and playing “five more minutes” and interpreted that as a countdown to the end of another bumpy night in Washington.
But for those who did watch on NBA TV, they witnessed the Wizards get their third win in four games since making a shift in the starting lineup. Markieff Morris, the newlyminted sixth man, was asked if he felt like things were starting to turn around and he couldn’t keep a wry smile from spreading on his face as he worked up to his zinger.
“Just got to wait and see, man,” Morris told reporters. “Beginning of the year, you know how y’all guys get: ‘Blow the whole thing up!’ We just gonna wait and see.”
That’s also good advice for the gallery of onlookers, who are waiting to see what’s the next narrative to emerge from the Wizards’ locker room.
Dwight Howard, who spent much of the last weekend as a trending topic after an alleged ex made some bold claims on Twitter, missed his fourth straight game while dealing with “gluteal soreness,” a pain that stems from a previous piriformis muscle injury. He did not take part in the team’s morning shoot-around, and instead received treatment away from the court. Before the game, things seemed normal. Howard’s pregame meal of chicken strips, brown rice and broccoli waited for him. His workout gear was bundled on his seat and black Nike flip flops were placed near his stall. The only hint this wasn’t just another night: as Howard changed clothes for a private workout, several of the team’s public relations staffers lingered nearby, which doesn’t normally happen. Howard did not speak with reporters.
“You know, you just really don’t try to feed into it,” Morris said about how teammates are responding to Howard’s latest spin in the news cycle. “Of course, everybody sees it, but we don’t really make no decisions or make any judgments until you get to the bottom of it and regardless, you know, he’s a teammate and we just stick with him.”
These distractions could fill a calendar for most teams. For the Wizards, they just call this November. And when it seems like everything’s ablaze in Washington, the Wizards find a way to pull up a chair and warm their hands to the fire.