It's About Time John Wall Got A Fair Shot To Represent Team USA

It’s about time we got Coach K out of here and give John Wall a fair shot at making the Team USA roster. I mean, of course a Duke guy wasn’t going to pick a Kentucky player who grew up in Carolina. Talk about bias a little bit. Probably had nothing to do with guys like Steph Curry, James Harden or healthy Derrick Rose.

Wall has been pretty open about his desire to play for Team USA though and how he felt he never got a fair shot because of allegiances or the fact that once players play for Team USA they get first dibs. The one argument he has is the 2016 Olympics and making it over Kyle Lowry or if they decided to take another guard to the 2014 World Cup instead of a Plumlee.

Here’s what Wall said back in 2016:

“I’ll be out of the picture,” said Wall through a laugh and without any noticeable trace of resentment….

“I’m just being honest,” Wall continued. “Chris Paul has already won one (Olympic gold medal). Steph Curry had an amazing last year and just won the World Cup. Kyrie just won the World Cup. Russell will probably be on the team. They’ll use him as a two-guard. So, I probably won’t make it.”

He was even more blunt back in 2014:

Asked if he was given a fair shot to make the final 12-player roster, Wall said, “Nah, I don’t think so, but it’s a part of the game. I’m just happy to have the opportunity to be there and represent my country. I wish them the best of luck and hope they can win gold.”

“I’ve been (around) for four years in a row. I think that’s enough time,” Wall said. “Everybody had the same fair amount of time as far as being (in Las Vegas) and playing. I think [Team USA] already had kind of in their mind what they wanted to do and what decisions they were going (to make).”

I mean, I love hearing things like this just because it shows that guys want to play for Team USA. The 2016 Olympics were a bit weird because we saw so many big names pull out of the Olympics for various reasons. I enjoy watching us send our best team – like we did in 1992, 2008, 2012, etc – and see the best of the best play together. Countries across the world are getting better and better each year, whether it was Argentina and Spain in the past, Lithuania is always a solid team, Serbia, Slovenia and Croatia are all getting better.

We’re starting to get closer to seeing these guys playing games again as we’re finishing up World Cup qualifying for the 2019 World Cup in China. Team USA had their minicamp in Vegas a month ago. I am curious to see what sort of team Pop puts together for his first team. There’s plenty of depth, especially at the guard position, but it’s always interesting to see who decides they want to play – especially in the World Cup compared to the Olympics.