In his first public comments since joining the Clippers as a free agent, John Wall said he’s looking forward to playing in a lineup as talented as Ohm Youngmisuk of the ESPN Relays.
“I don’t have to do it every night, I don’t have to be Batman every night to win,” Wall said Saturday at the Las Vegas Summer League. “That’s the ultimate goal for me [at] this part of my career I don’t want to be Batman every night to try to win. In our team that we have, I think anyone can be Batman.
Wall also said he never seriously considered joining a team other than the Clippers, according to Youngmisuk.
“I really didn’t care about all the other teams,” Wall said of the other teams pursuing him. “The other teams are great and I’m glad the teams wanted to follow me, but I looked at the picture like, where can I go [where] I don’t have to be John Wall from 2016 and carry the load and do all that [things] and you have pressure on me. I think [LA] I’ve been missing some of having a point guard, and it’s a great situation for me to be in there.”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Recruiting calls from Stephen Curry and Draymond Green helped land Donte DiVincenzo on the Warriors as his free agent destination, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dalton Johnson writes. “Once I had the conversation with Steph and Draymond, everything slowed down a little bit for me because I got away from the numbers and the dollar signs and everything,” DiVincenzo said. “I was so focused on what was best for Donte and what was best for me going forward. With this culture and environment, it’s something that I want to be a part of and it’s something that I am. I don’t have to change who I am. I can just totally fit in and become a warrior. DiVincenzo signed a two-year contract with Golden State with a player option in the second season. He has reportedly had offers for more money, but the ability to join a contender and potentially build on his value next season appealed to the 25-year-old.
- Lakers head coach Darwin Hamm recently expressed confidence in his coaching staff’s ability to get the most out of the team’s newly signed free agents, according to Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group. “There are different circumstances why people give up shooting,” Hamm said. “Sometimes it’s injury related, sometimes it’s minutes, who you get on the floor with, how many touches. So the only thing we’re worried about is what we do going forward, and we think we’ve got a good group — a good young group of free agents that are going to come in and make an impact.” The Lakers have added Lonnie Walker, Troy Brown Jr., Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damien Jones and Thomas Bryant so far in free agency, prioritizing youth and speed over older veterans.
- Suns big man Dario Saric, who missed the entire 2021/22 season after suffering a torn right ACL in the 2021 finals and underwent arthroscopic surgery in May to repair a torn meniscus in the same knee, recently gave a positive update on his condition. writes Dwayne Rankin of the Arizona Republic. Saric has just started contacting coaches and hopes to play a few games with the Croatian national team before training camp. “I feel good, I feel very good,” Saric said. “I’m moving better, faster. I was out of basketball for a year. I had time to settle my mind to really dive into this extra positive. I work to be the best I can be.”
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