John Wall thinks he is the best point guard in the NBA, and now after getting a max deal, he has to go out and prove it.
Wall is taking no shortcuts in his quest to be the best, and according to CSN Washington, Wall will get in some training with former NBA great, and soon to be Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton.
Wall still plans to hook up with Gary Payton, a Hall of Fame point guard who was one of the best of his generation, in Seattle before returning to train with the Wizards on Aug. 20. Plus, he had ample time to watch the nuances of Tony Parker as he led the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA finals and the Memphis Grizzlies’ Mike Conley, who helped his team advance to the Western Conference finals.
“Footwork also, just like catching the ball and working on pivots and stuff,” Wall said about what he has done this off-season in addition to refining jump shot. “Floaters. Watched a lot of Tony Parker throughout the playoffs and I see how Mike Conley added to his game after I went to two of his playoff series.”
Wall and Payton made a connection after Payton confided in the Wizards point guard about the early struggles he had in Seattle before George Karl arrived.
“With John Wall I think he understood that he has to get better and he has to go work out and he has to go improve on those things,” Payton said. “I think if he knows he’s not good at something, he’ll go workout at it. And that’s what I respect a lot about him and a lot about his game. And I know he’s going to get better because I know he’s got the mentality that he wants to get better, he wants to learn from other people, he wants to take advice from people and he wants to get better.”
