LAS VEGAS — Set to play alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George next season, John Wall said he is delighted to be joining a loaded LA Clippers team that won’t need him to be “Batman every night for us to win.”
In his first comments since officially signing a two-year, $13.2 million deal with LA, Wall believes he can help fill a missing component for the Clippers at point guard.
The Clippers are expected to contend for a championship with Leonard returning after missing all of last season due to a torn right ACL. Wall said he is thrilled to be joining the most talented roster he has been a part of in his career.
“I don’t have to do it every night, I don’t have to be Batman every night for us to win,” Wall said on Saturday at the Las Vegas Summer League. “That’s the ultimate goal for me is [at] this part of my career, I don’t want to have to be the Batman every night to try to win. On our team that we have, I think anyone can be Batman.”
Wall, who will turn 32 in September, has not played in the NBA since April 23, 2021. He sat out last season with the Houston Rockets, who were rebuilding with younger players.
Wall has only played a total of 40 games — all during the 2020-21 season with Houston — in the past three seasons. He missed all of the 2019-2020 season due to an Achilles tendon injury. He also only played in a total of 73 games combined over the 2017-18 and 2018-2019 seasons due to injuries.
“When I get between those four lines, I don’t have an injury, I don’t think about it,” Wall said of past injuries that include knee, Achilles and heel issues. “I go out there and compete. I work hard every day to try to get back to this position to be back in the league.
“My last three years, I was in the darkest place I have ever been. I don’t think a lot of people could have gotten through what I went through — losing my mom, losing my grandma, tearing my Achilles, going through all that adversity and just trying to find myself and then getting some of that love more…
Source : espn
