The Washington Wizards don't have the largest fan base. The Verizon Center tends to be half empty when an uninteresting opponent is in town, and the team has a difficult time competing with the city's baseball, football and hockey squads.
But John Wall doesn't care about all that. All he knows is that some people only root for the Wizards when they're good, and he doesn't particularly like it. Here's what he said, per CBS DC:
“I know people will panic, and I get a lot of Twitter trash talks, but that doesn’t bother me because when we get back to playing well, and I’m playing well, they’ll all be back on the bandwagon.” Wall said Monday. In a town where the Wizards, no matter how good or bad they might be, are anywhere from the second to the fourth most popular team, there are plenty of fans who come and go. Last season, as the Wizards won 46 games — the most for the franchise since 1978-79 — the Verizon Center was rarely sold out.
Wall isn't nasty here, he's just honest. And he's also right. Fans will hop back onboard when Washington starts to win again. But for now, the team is 6-8 and in the midst of a four-game losing streak, with the Cleveland Cavaliers on the schedule Tuesday night.
What's interesting, though, is how these comments might affect Kevin Durant once they trickle into his ear drum. Wall doesn't make D.C. seem like the greatest basketball city. But Durant probably already knows that. And frankly, if Durant were to come to the Wizards, piling up wins wouldn't be an issue.
