Recently, Eric Prisbell of The Washington Post wrote a very detailed article about John Wall’s past that garnered a lot of national attention, specifically in regard to his relationship with his father.
In this article, Prisbell discusses Wall’s troubled childhood dealing first with his father’s incarceration and secondly with his father’s death. Despite the fact that Wall’s father was in jail throughout his childhood, he was still able to visit during the weekends with his mother and step-sister. In 1998, Wall’s father was diagnosed with cancer and was removed from prison as his condition worsened. A year later, John Wall’s father passed away. Prisbell describes the graphic death in the article and continues by explaining that Wall turned into an aggressive and rebellious teenager.
The article goes on to explain how Wall found basketball as a release, and learned to use the game to control his temper. It follows him through basketball camp, to Word of God Academy, to the 2007 Reebok All-American Camp and ultimately to the University of Kentucky.
The most controversial part of the article comes with its conclusion as Prisbell joins John Wall after an 80-minute practice in his former high school gym. While sitting together on the bleachers, Prisbell informs Wall the reasons his father had been incarcerated. Prior to this meeting, Wall had no idea.
After hearing this, Wall impresses his audience in his reaction by saying:
“I was not curious, I was just happy to see my dad and talk to him… That’s my dad. He brought me onto this earth and like everybody, he makes mistakes. Everyone is not going to be perfect.”
After the article was printed and became a popular topic of discussion, John Wall was asked how he felt about the story. Once again, he impressed his audience.
“You can’t really be upset or mad. I really didn’t think of it too much. They’ve got to do their job, they’ve got to ask questions. You can say no in a mean way, or a nice way. It was a story, so I felt like people should know what it was. I wasn’t too upset about it, but it seemed like a lot of fans were kind of upset. It was alright with me.”
We all know that John Wall is an incredible athlete; it’s nice to see that he is also an incredible guy. It will be fun to see him develop as a player in Washington.
Abby Draper is the Manager of Social Media. Contact her at abby@maroonpr.com
Hopefully he'll bring some of his good character into the Wizards locker room (Lord knows they need it!) and help turn that team around... He's bound to do so, just look at the recent historical trend. Ovechkin to Caps (GO CAPS!!!), Strasbourg to Nats, now Wall to the Wizards. It's a good day for sports in DC!
ReplyDeleteYou're right! It will be fun to keep watching each team grow! Thanks for reading.
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