by
Reggie Jackson
The first meeting between the Pistons and Washington Wizards next year just got a lot juicier.
For whatever reason, John Wall, Washington’s star point guard, took the opportunity Tuesday to lament about his meager $80 million contract, throwing Detroit’s Reggie Jackson under the bus in the process.
Jackson came to terms this off-season with the Pistons on a five year, $80 million contract. You’ll notice those numbers look identical, something Wall seems to find grossly unjust.
“People talk about me getting $80 million, now you got people getting $85 million that haven’t made the All-Star Game or anything like that. I guess they came in at the right time. Reggie Jackson gets five years, $80 million...I’m getting the same as Reggie Jackson.”
Let’s all take a moment here to understand the difficulty that is John Wall’s life, being forced to somehow figure out a way to live the next five years on less than $100 million bucks. Should we start a GoFundMe site for him??
And sure, Wall has a point that at this juncture in their careers, he has accomplished more than Jackson. But is it really night and day?
John Wall
Wall was drafted first overall out of Kentucky in 2010. In the five seasons since, the Wizards have qualified for the playoffs twice. Neither time did they advance past the second round. He has twice led the NBA in turnovers, and finished runner-up to James Harden this year.
At Kentucky, Wall struggled from the perimeter, hoping to one day refine said stroke as a professional. It hasn’t happened yet. He is a career 30% launcher from downtown, which happens to be a massive improvement from the SEVEN percent he shot from 3 in 2011-12.
You read that correctly. That year, Wall hoisted 42 times from beyond the arc and connected on three. I could be shooting with a medicine ball and I’d find a way to do better than that.
It’s not to say that our young point guard doesn’t share these flaws. Reggie Jackson is also a major work in progress from the outside. He commits too many turnovers. He has not led his own team deep into a playoff bracket.
But Jackson isn’t the one calling out the other guy. Wall is. And it ain’t right.
When Shawn Kemp famously grumbled to the press that Sonics teammate Jim McIlvaine was given a big contract extension while still hoping for one of his own, it was fairly understandable. He was one of the league’s top stars being out-earned by a player on his own team, and a far less valuable one at that.
Wall going to the media to cry foul in this situation is not warranted. It makes him look petty.
Jackson has not equaled what Wall has done in the NBA, but that is more a byproduct of opportunity than anything else. Had Jackson been given the keys to his own up-and-coming Eastern Conference franchise right out of college, he likely would have made those same token playoff appearances and earned one or two All-Star nods.
The Wizards will come to town for a pair of games this upcoming season and the boo-birds should be out in full force. Something tells me Reggie Jackson has those dates circled, and the schedule hasn’t even been released yet.
The Pistons haven’t played with much of a chip on their shoulder these last several years.
Maybe a public dig like this will be just what the doctor ordered.
