John Wall: “i’m Really Not One Of Those Ones That Want To Recruit And Kind Of Say Who I Want On My Team.”

At 11-37 the Washington Wizards are having another brutal season with plenty of question marks leading into the future. It may be unfair to pin all the blame on John Wall, but the media is looking at the second year point guard and expecting him to develop into a team leader rather quickly. This season Wall is averaging 17.3 points per game, which is up from his rookie season where he put up 16.4 points per game. The Wizards were busy during the trade deadline dealing players that weren’t playing to their potential like Javale McGee and they added NeNe Hilario in an attempt to better the team around their superstar. The No.1 overall selection in 2010 out of Kentucky is not concerned with recruiting star players to join him, which is refreshing to hear in a sport that is plagued by this issue, but he’s put all his attention into becoming the leader he needs to become.

John Wall joined 106.7 The Fan in DC with The Mike Wise Show with Holden Kushner to discuss the challenges of developing as a leader, the Washington Wizards organization doing enough to keep him happy with trades/free agent acquisitions, recruiting free agents to the Wizards, being more of a leader when it comes to Andray Blatche and wanting to play for Randy Wittman.

Have you grown as a leader or is it challenging?

“I’m growing it’s just…I got to be more of a vocal leader on the court you know what I mean? When things are not going right and I can’t get everybody their stats. Part of it is settling things down when teams go on a big run or something like that and we are not scoring.”

Has the organization done enough to keep you happy for the future in terms of trades and free agent signings?

“Yes I do. I’m liking what they’re doing. All the things they do especially NeNe [Hilario] gives us a great low post presence that can score and things like that. I feel very comfortable with the decisions and the right way we are going with this organization.”

If everybody was a free agent who would you want on your team right now that makes this team really matter?

“I’m really not one of those ones that want to recruit and kind of say who I want on my team. I just want guys that know how hard I play and how I can be better in this league and how this organization can try to change this thing around and get pieces around here that a lot of guys want to come join and play with me and with my other teammates.”

Do you have to be more vocal off the court with Andray Blatche?

“He’s doing the right things. He knows he needs to be in better shape than he was in coming back from the injury. He’s been doing a great job. He’s been in the gym the last couple of days working hard getting the extra work in and just trying to get back in better shape.”

Do you want to play for Randy Wittman next year?

“Yeah. I love Coach Wittman. Coach Wittman is a great coach. He is doing a great job of coaching us this year.”