After losing Paul Pierce to the Los Angeles Clippers in free agency, star point guard John Wall knows that it's on him to be the leader of the Washington Wizards going forward.
Here's what Wall told Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post:
“It’s all on me now. I feel like it is,” Wall said. “Going into my sixth year and having three great veterans in Trevor Ariza and Al Harrington and definitely Paul Pierce, those guys taught me to be a leader the best way you can be. And now I have to go in there from Day 1 and try to do what I got to do and do what those guys did in the past and lead my team. [...] When I came in young I didn’t want to do it because everybody always was like, ‘Well, he’s the No. 1 pick. He thinks he’s all that.’ That’s how I felt. And just getting the respect.
When I get the respect from a Hall of Famer in Paul Pierce, who tells me, ‘You got to be our leader, you’re our best player. We want you to do these types of things.’ Now I feel like I can say anything to anybody in a respectful way. Not trying to disrespect anybody and do it in a professional manner to make sure that our team is going to be the best it can be.”
(h/t Washington Post)
Photo Credit: Eric Mull
