John Wall is retiring from the NBA after 11 seasons the former number 1 overall pick announced on social media Tuesday.
“Today, I’m stepping off of the court, but not away from the game,” Wall posted. “Basketball will always be in my life, and new opportunities present themselves. I feel now is the time to walk confidently into my next chapter.”
Despite being only 34 years old, Wall has been plagued by injuries the last several seasons. Wall sat out the last two seasons due to injury, and prior to that, missed the entire 2021-22 and 2019-20 seasons as well. The last time he appeared in more than 50% of his team’s games was during the 2016-17 campaign.
Over the course of his 647 game career, the former Kentucky Wildcat averaged 18.7pts/8.9ast/1.6stl/4.2reb per game. A 5x All-Star, Wall was the 2014 NBA Slam Dunk champion, and took home 2nd Team All-Defensive player honours back in 2015.
Despite his numerous knee, and Achilles injuries, as recently as February, Wall had stated that he was still regularly working out and hoped to play another year or two. Evidently things have changed for the talented point guard, though he hopes to remain involved in the game in either a front office role, or in broadcasting.
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