John Wall retires, former Wizards No. 1 pick, Kentucky basketball star ends pro career after 11 seasons

Former Washington Wizards star guard John Wall announced his retirement after 11 NBA seasons. Wall last played for the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2022-23 season. 

Wall finishes with career averages of 18.7 points, 8.9 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals, while shooting 32.2% from beyond the arc. The 2010 first overall pick spent the first nine seasons of his NBA career as a member of the Wizards before a 2020 blockbuster trade with the Houston Rockets that saw Russell Westbrook sent to to Wizards.

Wall had a strong rookie campaign in which he averaged 16.4 points, 8.3 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.8 steals and finished second in the league’s Rookie of the Year Award behind then-Clippers star Blake Griffin. He ended up leading the Wizards to the playoffs in four of his nine seasons with the franchise and helped the team reach the Eastern Conference semifinals in two of those campaigns.

Late in his NBA career, Wall dealt with an abundance of injuries that slowed him down. He had knee issues in multiple seasons that limited him to 41 or fewer games in his final four seasons.

Wall was also named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month from January–April and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting behind unanimous selection Blake Griffin and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

In 2022, Wall signed a two-year, $13 million deal with the Clippers, but only logged 34 games in his lone campaign in Los Angeles. Los Angeles traded him back to the Rockets in February 2023 in a three-team trade that also involved the Memphis Grizzlies.

In total, Wall was a five-time All-Star, a member of the All-NBA Third Team (2017), a member of the NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2015), and won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 2014. Wall leaves the sport as the fourth-highest leading scorer in Wizards history with 10,879 career points and only trails Elvin Hayes (15,551), Bradley Beal (15,391) and Jeff Malone (11,083).

Wall was a five-star recruit and 247Sports rated him as the No. 2 prospect in the 2009 class prior to his time at Kentucky. Upon arriving in Lexington, Wall delivered a sensational freshman season with the Wildcats as he averaged 16.6 points, 6.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals, while shooting 46.1% from the field. 

In 2009-10, Wall earned SEC Player of the Year as well as a member of the All-SEC First Team. He also was named the SEC Tournament MVP that season and led Kentucky to an Elite Eight appearance as a No. 1 seed in the first season under legendary coach John Calipari. Following his freshman season, Wall declared for the 2010 NBA Draft.