Former Washington Wizards guard John Wall believes his prime-era team fell short of contention due to missing one crucial piece: a third star.
Speaking on The Dawg Talk Podcast, Wall reflected on the late 2010s Wizards squads he led alongside Bradley Beal. The five-time All-Star said the team had enough talent to reach the Eastern Conference Finals but lacked the additional firepower needed to go further.
“I think we would have gotten to East Conference Finals for sure,” Wall said, via HoopsHype. “We were missing one piece… another like superstar because every team at that time was having three stars.”
Wall and Beal formed one of the league’s most productive backcourts during their run together in Washington. The duo helped the Wizards make four playoff appearances from 2014 to 2018, including two second-round finishes in 2015 and 2017.
In the 2016–17 season, Wall averaged 23.1 points and 10.7 assists per game while Beal added 23.1 points on 40.4% shooting from deep. The Wizards won 49 games and pushed the Celtics to seven games in the second round, coming one win away from the franchise’s first Conference Finals appearance since 1979.
Wall suggested that, with both him and Beal peaking, the team could have attracted a third star to elevate their ceiling.
“We just needed a mid-level superstar,” added Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who joined Wall on the podcast. “Like somebody out there to get you 15, 20 you know every night.”
Though Trevor Ariza, Otto Porter Jr., and Marcin Gortat contributed as role players, Washington never secured a consistent third scorer to match the NBA’s rising superteam trend.
Injuries later derailed Wall’s career, including multiple surgeries between 2019 and 2021 that limited his availability. By the time he returned to the floor, the Wizards had shifted toward building around Beal.
Wall was traded to the Houston Rockets in December 2020, effectively ending his era in Washington.
