Washington rules out Wall for Disney restart

John Wall will not join the Washington Wizards for the resumption of the NBA season this summer, ending the chances of the five-time All-Star guard playing his first game since 2018.

General manager Tommy Sheppard effectively ruled out Wall returning this season when he said on Monday the 29-year-old wouldn't be part of the Wizards' traveling party to central Florida. Among the factors in the decision was a cap of 35 people per team in the quarantined bubble at Walt Disney World. The COVID-19 pandemic also hindered Wall's progress in his rehab from multiple surgeries.

"He definitely lost all the basketball gains that he had made," Sheppard said on a video call with reporters. "He's got to focus on what he's got to do, but having somebody go into that bubble that's not going to play, that's just more people going into the bubble."

Wall hasn't played an NBA game since December 2018. Surgery for bone spurs in his left heel ended that season; while he was working his way back from that, he tore his left Achilles tendon and needed another operation in 2019.

Xinhua - Agencies