[Kelly Iko via The Athletic] The Book of John: How John Wall got his body, mind and swagger back

joshuaao · Jan 26, 2021

S/o to Kelly Iko from the Athletic, who connected with John Wall on his return to the court. Added a few quotes that I particularly enjoyed. More at The Athletic

Beginning during the Las Vegas Summer League in July 2019 and continuing for the next three months, Wall and McClean worked out, starting with some light activities before slowly ramping up their schedule. At first, Wall could only walk. When McClean first got down to Miami, Wall couldn’t run or jump. Doing anything involving putting weight on his toes was painful, so a lot of emphasis was put on his set shot, essentially the only thing he could do. Wall had to tweak his muscle memory just to get the familiar feeling back. Some months later, Wall could jog again. When training camp and the season rolled around and Wall could do more with his legs, he would workout either at the team facility in D.C. when the Wizards were at home or would find gyms when the team went on the road.
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A typical day in Miami would see Wall wake up around 6 or 7 in the morning. Depending on what Wall wanted to do first, his cardio consisted of either running on the Alter-G machine, an anti-gravity treadmill designed for rehab, or he would opt for a bike ride. The latter was more of the competitive side of him, stemming from a bet he and McClean made in February on who would lose more weight. Because the pandemic had closed most things in the nation’s capital, the two had purchased mountain bikes in D.C. and rode them around the city, tracking their distance.

One time, Wall and McClean actually ended up racing for 30 miles before realizing they still had to go back. “That’s 60 miles, ****,” Wall said.

Down in South Beach, although restrictions were a bit looser, the bike rides had become a big part of their routine so they purchased two more.

After cardio, Wall would head to CoreFit to work with Luaces. Over the years, CoreFit has become one of Miami’s go-to spots for pros across all sports during their various offseasons. Conditioning-wise, Wall was a long way off from his desired shape but he wanted to focus on his agility, lower leg strength and explosiveness. Luaces coordinated those sessions and McClean would join in on the daily workouts to keep Wall motivated. Wall also started lifting weights and at his peak, he was deadlifting 525 pounds.

“Everything,” Wall said of the areas of his body he wanted to work on. “The most important thing for me was my legs. I had just torn my Achilles so I had to get my calf muscle back stronger and do other things that I probably never worked on before in my career. My main focus was getting my legs back stronger and I think it’s paid off.”

Right after, Wall would grab a shake and head to Remy’s gym for on-court drills and to participate in Remy’s infamous NBA pickup runs. In the evening, Wall would wind down with Peloton classes and massages. A full day’s work, from eight in the morning until eight at night, for weeks.
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With every night, the bounce and lift in his legs slowly returned. One of the memorable moments from those runs was the night Wall recreated his signature slam, the exact same dunk he and McClean had watched in their daily highlights sessions. As the entire gym oohed and aahed, Wall looked at McClean and started laughing.

“He was coming down in transition on the left side and he slowed down and went from fast to slow, and back to fast, and just dunked it so hard,” Remy said, recalling the dunk. “I was like, ‘Okay, he’s back’ and the emotion and the whole gym felt it. Everything, he does it with emotion, but he has so much different motivation, different people writing him off. You could tell every day there’s a chip on his shoulder. Practice, workouts, games, it doesn’t matter what it is.

“We had over 50 NBA players coming to these runs in the summer. Wall was our MVP, absolutely,” Remy added.
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“No. Hell no,” Wall said when asked if he’s surprised at his start to the season, which has seen him average 17.1 points, 5.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds per game along with a career best 82.1 percent from the free throw line. “No I’m not surprised. I know how much work I’ve put in and I’ll say the NBA is a lot easier than what it was before. It’s a lot of switching one through four, one through five. And it’s a lot of spacing, all shooters out there and guys that can make one-on-one plays. That’s what I pride myself on being able to make, one-on-one plays, create shots for myself and for my teammates. I knew it would be a lot easier at least compared to when I came in the league where the paint used to be packed and you might have one shooter out there.”
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KingCheetah · Jan 26, 2021

I prefer... The Wailing Wall of John: A Book for the Ages

Kevooooo · Jan 26, 2021

Obligatory “How John Wall Got His Groove Back.”

RocketsFido · Jan 26, 2021

Wall has been getting a lot of good PR and has talked a lot about his progress but I've yet to see him produce all-star numbers consistently and without being injury prone. Though, I guess it doesn't really matter since we're not contending right now. I just hope he gets his value up so we can shed his salary for picks.

dmoneybangbang · Jan 26, 2021

Wall has looked better than I thought he would.

D-rock · Jan 27, 2021

Former Rocket Scotty Brooks is denying Wall's assertion that Wizards did not believe in him.or thought he was done.

https://www.nbcsports.com/washingto...-john-walls-claim-wizards-thought-he-was-done

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[Kelly Iko via The Athletic] The Book of John: How John Wall got his body, mind and swagger back

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