The Washington Wizards, specifically John Wall, have been in the news of late, and it’s not over anything good.
Recently, Wall said that he and Bradley Beal didn’t like each other on the floor, which typically doesn’t get out in the open that easily. But for whatever reason, Wall opened that up, and it’s caused quite the stir. But something from The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor has surfaced, which says that Wall apparently has jealousy issues.
From O’Connor:
Wall is known to keep a close eye on what other players are making, and the paper tossed around this summer has reportedly irked him. One league source familiar with Wall’s state of mind simply put it this way: “Wall’s got jealousy issues. He’s always upset with someone who makes more money than him.” A lot of players will make more money than Wall this year. He signed a five-year, $84.8 million deal in 2013, which looks like chump change now.
It doesn’t stop there. Wall wasn’t happy with the fact that James Harden signed a 13-year, $200 million deal with Adidas according to O’Connor. As O’Connor points out, Wall ended up firing his agent and hired Rich Paul.
But the shoe deal wasn’t the only thing that got to Wall:
Maybe Adidas is second-guessing their decision after seeing Harden’s shoe design, but in any case, that’s not the only time Wall has been irked by The Beard. A front-office executive tells The Ringer that Wall was “rankled” after Harden signed a four-year, $118 million extension with the Rockets.
If Harden’s contract was irritating, just imagine how Wall felt when Beal signed for a five-year max contract worth $127.2 million, tied for the fourth-most-valuable contract in the NBA. An agent described it to me like this: “Whatever is public, multiply it by five and that’s how they really feel about each other. It’s probably a total disaster.”
Wall and Beal are both very talented players, but it’s too bad for Washington, as it appears these are some serious things to overcome.
