John Wall’s Endless Summer

The latest news on the NBA lockout is bleak. At this point we may be closer to an agreement on a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao super fight than we are to the start of the 2011 NBA season. Maybe if that fight is made we could see David Stern vs. Dwyane Wade on the undercard. The commissioner is literally pointing fingers, players are literally refusing to sit down to talk, and fans are figuratively beside themselves with concern for a season that is supposed to tip off in less than a month

Fortunately for us, the sport lives on while the league argues over the future of the salary cap. Many of the league’s stars took a break from the process to take part in charity game hosted by Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets. One player taking part was our own superstar, John Wall. Like many of the other off-season pick up games, this one was wide open, with ridiculous scoring totals. What set it apart was the ridiculous number of highlight reel plays, especially from Wall. Let’s break it down.

0:03 Three full seconds until somebody did the Dougie. The disappointment on Stephen Curry’s face is apparent.

0:10 The first shot of our man Wall comes on a reverse alley-oop from the game’s host. An auspicious start.

0:11 Wall comes right back with a ridiculous bounce pass off of the gym wall. Normally that kind of stuff isn’t allowed, but this is a charity game. Also, if you’re name is Wall it’s only natural that you be given some poetic license. You know, “Wall, off the wall, back to Wall. Dagger!” At least that’s how Steve Buckhantz would have called it.

0:15 Curry agrees.

0:19 That 360-baseline slam may not be part of Wall’s NBA repetoire, but it damn well should be.

0:22 That behind-the-back move definitely looks familiar. And suddenly I’m nostalgic for the old league.

0:26 Wall usually dunks with his left hand. Except for when his head is at rim level, apparently.

0:28 Back to lefty. It’s like watching Roy Jones Jr. in his prime.

0:32 A jump shot! Always good to see him work in a few of those.

0:34 to 0:37 Run-of-the-mill awesome dunks. Pretty nice.

0:39 Unnnnh. What just happened?

0:42 Dwyane Wade? No, go back. I’m going to need to watch that behind the back right-handed dunk on a loop for an hour or so.

0:56 Ah, there’s Wall. He’s the one returning the favor to Paul. I think they’re on to something with this multiple-point-guard offense.

1:03 Paul needs a boost from his future Heat teammates in order to out-jump Wall.

1:08 Right back to the DC flavor with Kevin Durant. He’s spent the offseason working on his extensive collection of business tattoos. The PG County-native recently added shoulder-to-shoulder tribute to his home state.

1:13 Everybody is doin’ the Dirk.

1:17 Wall leaves one off for Durant. Perhaps Wall will be welcoming him back to town a few years down the road.

1:33 Nice dunks from Rudy Gay. Too bad he’s from Baltimore.

1:41 It’s perfectly understandable if you just let out a reflexive boo. In fact, I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.

In the end, Wall put on a show, and a team of superstars led by LeBron James and Dwyane Wade lost decisively. If that doesn’t fulfill your NBA fix then I’m not sure what will.

Jack Kogod