Former Washington Wizard John Wall recently told Theo Pinson & AJ Richardson that many people from DC are still very mad about him getting traded for one year of Russell Westbrook.
(via Run Your Race):
Talks getting traded/his impact on the DC community:
“I’m just like, ‘Damn, this s*** really happening. I’m really leaving a place where it’s home. I’ve been here for ten years.’ City mad as s***. I’m talking about, they’re still mad as hell. Hot. Because basically you got Russ for one year and left. What’d you do that for? You know what I mean? And it’s funny because I had a turkey drive three days before that. Media asking me all questions and s***, I’m just playing the politic game. I gave out like 2,000 turkeys and all the fans are like, ‘Don’t leave us! Don’t leave us!’ I’m like, ‘It’s out of my hands. I can’t control it.’ At some point you just can’t control certain s***. You can own up for your mistakes, but s*** happens.
“Not too many people touch the community. And when you touch the community and touch the people that really ain’t got s*** that’s really from the city, not moved there. I’m talking about really from war day, Section 8, and all that, and you ain’t got s***, and you helped them out. Like when I did my 202 rent relief thing, I paid families rent for eight months. This is when COVID hit, and they couldn’t afford food. So I’m like, ‘Let me take one burden off their back where they ain’t gotta worry about rent, which is probably the hardest s*** to do, where you can afford to put food on your kid’s plate.’ That’s the people I was touching, and those are the MFers that was mad about it.”
Discusses return game vs. Wizards:
“So when I went back bro, I damn near wanted to cry on the court bro when I played there December 10th. It was the craziest s*** ever bro. I had chills through my body. Outside of my mom passing away, that might have been the most chills I ever had in my life. I felt like when I scored and I said, ‘This my city still!’ That MFer stood up like I had a Wizards jersey on. I forgot I was on the Clippers, I was about to run over there to this way. But it was just crazy though, the love throughout the whole s***. Like everybody like, ‘Please come back! Please come back!’ From a kid bro, it’s like watching your son go from 9 to 19. He go from elementary to college. So that was just amazing to me. I feel like I got the flowers I deserve.”
