John Wall announced his retirement from the NBA on Tuesday, hanging his sneakers up at age 34 after a memorable 11-year career.
In his prime, Wall was one of the most entertaining players to watch in the league, and undoutedly one of the most athletic players to play the point guard position in NBA history.
After a legendary college career with Kentucky, Wall was selected first overall by the Washington Wizards in the 2010 NBA Draft. The Raleigh, North Carolina native took the league by storm, averaging 16.4 points, 8.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds in his rookie season, and finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting (behind Blake Griffin).
Wall would quickly turn into the Wizards' franchise player, earning a selection to the NBA All-Star Game in five consecutive seasons between 2013 and 2018. Wall was also named to the Third Team All-NBA in 2016-17, and Second Team All-Defense in 2014-15.
John Wall NBA Career Stats (2010-2023)
Games
Points
Assists
Rebounds
Steals
Field Goal %
3-Point Field Goal %
Wall's career did not end on an ideal note, as the 6-foot-3 floor general struggled to stay healthy since the 2017-18 season. He spent the last two seasons of his career with the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers, where he averaged 16.3 points in just 74 games.
Wall will be remembered as one of the most electric players in basketball during the 2010s, so we've decided to compile a list of the best moments of his NBA career.
5 Wall Chases Down Steph Curry
Wall Curry
One of the most underrated parts of Wall's game was his shot-blocking ability. Wall averaged 0.7 blocks per game, and racked up a total of 439 rejections during his career.
None are more memorable than his chasedown block on Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry in 2015-16.
Unfortunately for Wall, Curry and the Warriors dominated their head-to-head matchups, winning 14 of 16 meetings.
4 Playoff Posterizer
John Wall Bazemore
Wall was a great playoff performer, elevating his game when the postseason came around. The Wizards only made the playoffs four times with Wall, but Washington felt like they had a good chance at making a deep playoff run in 2017.
The Wizards ran into the Atlanta Hawks in the First Round, another team with high ambitions in the Eastern Conference.
Wall's big moment came in Game 3, when he made a silky behind-the-back move in transition, and punctuated it with a vicious posterizing slam over Kent Bazemore.
Despite Wall's 29-point performance, the Wizards would lose the game. But they got the last laugh, taking the series in six games, with Wall averaging 29.5 points and 10.3 assists per game.
Washington's playoff run would end in the next round, however, falling to the Boston Celtics in seven games.
3 Wall Goes Off For 52 Points
Wall career high
Wall notched his career-high in points with a 52-point performance in a 124-116 loss to the Orlando Magic back in December 2016.
In just over 42 minutes of action, the Kentucky product sank 18 of 31 shots from the field — including five of eight from three-point range — and hit 11 of 14 free throws. He also dished eight assists, grabbed four rebounds and registered three steals in a complete performance.
It was the only time Wall scored 50 points in a game during his career — he scored over 40 three times.
2 Wall Hits Clutch Playoff Winner
Wall buzzer beater
Wall's biggest playoff moment also came during that 2017 run, this time in the second round against the Celtics.
With the Wizards down 91-89 and on the brink of elimination in Game 6, Wall received an inbound pass with 7.7 seconds left and made the shot of his life to save Washington's season.
The shot would stand as the game winner, forcing a decisive Game 7 in Boston, which the Celtics would go on to win.
1 Wall Wins Dunk Contest
Wall dunk contest
The NBA Dunk Contest is simply no longer what it used to be. Over the last decade, the event has taken a turn for the worst, with superstars deciding against participating, and the league having to parade bench players — and even G League players — out for the dunk contest.
One of the last memorable performances came from John Wall in 2014, where he beat out Terrence Ross and Paul George to win the event in New Orleans.
Wall's last dunk was by far the best effort of the night, as he jumped over the Wizards' mascot and threw down a reverse slam, before hitting the Nae Nae with George as the crowd and judges went wild.