Reunion lacking typical gravity
Wall faces Wizards with various factors easing his emotions
In other circumstances, in another season or in another place — Washington, rather than Houston — Rockets guard John Wall would face a tough battle against his emotions. They will likely do some sparring even now as he faces the Washington Wizards on Tuesday for the first time since spending most of a decade as the face of that franchise.
The realities of the season, filled with health and safety protocols, controversial trades and the Rockets’ effort to build on a pair of wins over the weekend as he returned from a sore knee, make the personal considerations secondary. Still, they will be difficult to avoid entirely.
“I think I’ve got a little bit of emotions,” Wall said. “It’s going to be great seeing some of the guys that I played with. It’s going to be a competitive game. They know how I play. Now I’m on the other end, not being in a group with those guys. The ultimate goal for me is to try to get my team a win.”
The first pick of the 2010 NBA draft, Wall played for the Wizards for nine seasons before sitting out all of last season while coming back from a variety of injuries and surgeries.
Wall missed five games with a sore knee, while Russell Westbrook, sent to the Wizards from the Rockets in the deal, was out for more than two weeks with a sore quad. Both returned with minutes restrictions over the weekend.
That makes them both available for Tuesday’s game but also has removed the luxury for both to think about reunions, if they ever could.
“I’m sure we’re going to expect the energetic John Wall,” Wizards star Bradley Beal said. “I’m sure we all know that. I never played against John before. This is all new to me. We’re not just playing John; we’re playing the Rockets. We do have it in the back of our mind that he’s going to be in attack mode and aggressive.”
The same can be assumed of Westbrook. But for Westbrook, playing in a mostly empty Toyota Center negates some of the potential to bring reminders of his one season with the Rockets. For Wall, having his first game
against the Wizards coming in Houston removes some of the emotion he expects in Washington on Feb. 15.
“For me, I don’t think there’ll be too many emotions, because I’m not going back to D.C.,” Wall said. “I think that’s when it’ll be the most emotions: when that opportunity (comes) to walk back into the Capital One Arena — I mean, the city where I’ve been the last 10 years. But it’ll be exciting to see those guys and go out and compete against those guys and how well Brad and other guys are playing so far.”
Westbrook has been there before, having returned to Oklahoma City, where he played for 11 seasons, last January. He scored 34 points in a Rockets loss that night, having had a more typical 21 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in his first meeting with the Thunder, a Rockets win at Toyota Center.
For Wall, the challenges of this season have made it difficult to consider the other seasons spent somewhere else. Nostalgia, inescapable when the Rockets will play in Washington,
will finish a distant second.
“We’re still kind of working through that injury part of it, so that’s really been the focus most of all with him,” Rockets coach
Stephen Silas said. “Obviously, it’s a big game for him, his first time playing against the Wizards. There will be emotions involved, of course. I know during the walk-through (on Tuesday), he’ll be able to help us along and give his teammates some insight. He did some of that (Monday). But it’ll be an emotional game for him, for sure.”
The challenge, Silas said, will be to not let the emotions take him away from his responsibilities to run the Rockets’ offense but not to be so concerned with controlling them than he becomes passive.
“It’s hard to find that balance between being too passive and trying to help your teammates play well and kind of taking yourself out of it, as opposed to being super, super aggressive and trying to do it all yourself,” Silas said. “Finding that middle ground is a tough thing to do: leaning toward what’s best for the team and not really kind of shifting it to myself and what I need to do against the Wizards.
“He’s such an unselfish guy and has those leadership qualities, I can see where he would really just want what’s best for the group. That’s how he’s been since he’s been here. But it’s a tough thing playing against your old team, especially being there for so very long.”