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John Wall shares his favorite memories of living and playing in D.C.

By Chase Hughes

Wall shares his favorite memories of living and playing in D.C. originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

After 30 minutes of question-and-answer on Monday night, John Wall asked NBC Sports Washington’s Chris Miller if he could add a post-script to their interview. He wanted to share his list of favorite memories from his time in D.C.

“I want to talk about the special moments I had in D.C.,” Wall said. “I had some special moments, man.”

Wall was reminiscing as he got ready for Tuesday night’s meeting between the Wizards and Rockets, the first time he will face his former team since being traded to Houston in December. Though Wall seems to have some lingering frustration with how his time in D.C. ended, he has a fond love for the city.

Here are his favorite moments, as he recalled them…

“Having the opportunity definitely to watch the Mystics win their championship. Being there and supporting them, with the relationship I had with a lot of [the players] on that team. Definitely being there to watch the Nats do their thing and win those games to get to the world championship, that was very dope. Being out there with the social justice stuff that was going on, how they embraced that there. Being able to walk and have a protest with the ‘Black Lives Matter’ [movement]. That was very dope to be there through all of the times that we were going through and how the city came together, how the Mystics and the Wizards came together as a whole,” he said. 

“Definitely my [backpack giveaways] to the community, every single one of them was dope because I embraced so many people there and touched the community in ways that I never thought I could. That was the most important thing for me was to touch people outside of basketball because… the love you get off the court in the community is more important than anything. I think that’s what made it dope for me. Being there when President [Barack] Obama was there and getting the opportunity to go to the White House, go bowling there and meet Mrs. Michelle Obama.

“All those things was dope and there was so much more memories that you can have there that you could never take away. My dad being born and raised there, having the opportunity to play in the city he was born at. Having both my boys be born there, that was dope. Also, purchasing my first house ever there. That was the dopest thing. I found out what it really was to be a man. Coming into that city, they taught me how to grow up and be a man more than anything, from a little boy.”

While Tuesday will be the first time Wall plays against the Wizards, it will be in Houston. He said over the weekend he will feel more emotional when playing the Wizards in D.C. on Feb. 15. After reading the comments above, you can see why.

Monte Morris ready to take his game to another level as Wizards’ point guard

By Mike DePrisco
Morris ready to take his game to another level with Wizards originally appeared on NBC Sports WashingtonWhen the Wizards agreed to a trade with the Nuggets sending Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith to Denver for Monte Morris and Will Barton, they effectively turned one of the best backup point guards in the NBA into a starter. Morris, 27, has been a backup his entire career, but now he has a chance to establish himself in the league as a starting floor general alongside star two-guard Bradley Beal. It's an opportunity Morris is excited to embark on. "I played a role in Denver, so many years just playing behind Jamal [Murray], and I was playing like 18 to 20 minutes but averaging double figures and things like that," Morris told NBC Sports Washington's Chris Miller on the Off the Bench podcast. "I'm excited to finally just get my opportunity to play more extended minutes and actually show the world more of what I'm capable of. That's leading, my character and just my willingness and drive to win and make others around me better."From 2018-21, Morris provided the Nuggets with stable point guard play behind their star, Jamal Murray. He averaged 9.9 points, 3.5 assists, 2.1 rebounds, shooting 47.9% from the floor and 39.4% from three in roughly 24 minutes per game. Once Murray went down at the end of the 2020-21 season with a torn ACL, Morris assumed the starting role for a Nuggets team vying for a title. Injuries to Murray and eventually Michael Porter Jr. derailed those championship aspirations for Denver, but from the 2021 playoffs to the Nuggets' first-round playoff loss to Golden State in 2022, Morris proved he was more than just a backup. 2021 playoffs: 13.7 PPG / 5.5 APG / 43.1% FG / 40% 3P2021-22 regular season: 12.6 PPG / 4.4 APG / 48.4% FG / 39.5% 3P2022 playoffs: 14.0 PPG / 5.4 APG / 49% FG / 42.3% 3PMorris started 79 of the 80 games he played in 2021-22, including the playoffs. His former Denver teammate who comes with him to Washington, Will Barton believes Morris' season as a starter will only motivate him to do more with the Wizards."I think it helped him see himself in a different light," Barton told Miller. "He was already one of the best backup point guards in the league, but then he got the opportunity to start and he played well and we won. It helped him to see himself as a starter in the league and want more from himself and his career. Once you have a taste of success you're always going to want more."The Wizards aren't strangers to watching newly acquired players grow with a more featured role. Just last season, Kyle Kuzma established himself as Washington's second-best player after he was traded by the Lakers. They started him at power forward, leaned on his shot-making in clutch situations and even asked him to facilitate the offense once Beal was lost for the season with a wrist injury. Kuzma averaged career highs in minutes, shot attempts, rebounds and assists while dropping 17 points a night on 45% shooting from the floor and 34% from three. In Morris, the Wizards will likely hope for another career year from a new acquisition. "Wes [Unseld Jr.] knows me very well," Morris said. "He knows what I'm capable of, the shots I'm capable of making... I played my role the best I could [with the Nuggets], and now I'm ready to show I got more than what people have seen in Denver... I'm gonna give it my all. I'm a go-getter. I play very hard and take this game very seriously."
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