John Wall says the NBA may reopen this summer and talks Michael Jordan vs. Allen Iverson

REVOLT’s new interview series “You Good?” is hosted by Terrence J. On it, the media personality speaks to his friends about their time social distancing and COVID-19, and much more.

In this week’s episode of “You Good?” host Terrence J sat down with Washington Wizards point guard John Wall. The five-time NBA All-Star discussed the possibility of the NBA reopening this summer, getting his bachelor’s degree, giving back to the community during the pandemic, and much more.

On June 23, 2010; the North Carolina native was chosen as the first overall pick by the Wizards in the NBA draft. That same year, Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty declared June 25 as John Wall Day during his Washington Wizards’ press run.

John’s career highlights include being arguably one of the fastest players in the league, endorsement deals with brands like Reebok and Adidas, and being crowned NBA Slam Dunk champion in 2010. Check out the highlights from this week’s episode below and be sure to tune in each week for a new one!

1. Pursuing a degree

During the Coronavirus pandemic, those who can are taking this new abundance of free time to either pick up new skills, get in shape or catch up on some much-needed rest. John tells Terrence he’s using this moment to spend time with family, exercise, and do some schoolwork.

In 2018, the NBA star announced that he enrolled in college to get his degree in Business Management. However, with his busy season, the point guard admits he didn’t have much time to focus. “That’s my quarantine goal. We make time for what we want to make time for,” John explains. “It’s so tough throughout the season with the jobs that we do. We travel so much, so I just try to find time where we were down just to get as much of [my] schoolwork [done]…”  

2. The NBA is possibly reopening

On March 12, the NBA suspended the 2019-20 season until further notice after many players began testing positive for Coronavirus. Terrence and John talked about the possibility of the athletes returning to the court as a large portion of the country pushes toward reopening.

“It’s been some positive talks to be realistic, I think around June 1. They’re supposed to start letting all the team go back to their facilities and start doing individual workouts. I think they’ll probably get to start playing by sometime in July, so hopefully, it happens,” John reveals.

But the game might look a little different as the league considers having the games take place without fan attendance. John tells Terrence, “I think it’s going to be very difficult because I mean for us, we play for the fans. The game is no fun without our fans, and I think we might have to finish off this season with no fans.”

3. Giving back to the community

Rihanna, JAY-Z, Cardi B, and comedian Michael Che are among many celebrities who have donated in efforts to assist individuals who were impacted by COVID-19. John is doing his part by helping families in need with his charity called 202 Assist.

“I do a lot of stuff in the community, that’s big to me. But, I have this new thing that I’m about to launch called the 202 Assist. It’s definitely for helping the families that are in Ward 8, that’s inaccessible to try to pay for rent or get grocery or anything like that,” John tells Terrence. “Ward 8 is big to me because we practice there for one. Our girls team Mystics play there, and our capital city Go-Go G-League plays there. So, I’m just trying to raise $300,000 for a 30-day relief program to try and see where we can get these people to, and I’m trying to help these people out.”

John hopes that along with some help from his friends, he can reach his goal of providing families around the Ward 8 communities with resources to help them thrive. “Contacting people that I’m cool with in the industry, I feel like it’s a great cause. I think to put a smile on those people face and help them out through this tough time because a lot of people are not fortunate to be able to help themselves, and I think there’s nothing the really can control,” John says. “They can’t go to work. They can’t do some of these things. Some of these kids might not even have a computer at home to try and do homework, and that’s what a lot of schools are going through.”

4. John Wall talks Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance”

On April 19, ESPN premiered its highly anticipated Michael Jordan documentary, “The Last Dance.” The nine-part docu-series covered Jordan’s historical career including the Chicago Bull’s 1997-98 season.

Although John admits that during his younger years, Allen Iverson was his inspiration, there was no denying Jordan’s talent and why he’s the greatest basketball player of all time. “The funny thing is Allen Iverson was actually my favorite player growing up because I was short and had braids. Don’t get me wrong, Jordan’s the GOAT, we all get that. But, A.I. was one of the first ones that touched the hood and all that type of stuff,” John confesses. “But Jordan and what he stood for, like kids my age and younger didn’t understand why people called him the GOAT, they’ll say, ‘Well, Kobe’s our GOAT,’ and there’s nothing wrong with that. But, it’s what you saw in Mike. The resilience of Mike.”

The documentary gave audiences a never-before-seen look at Jordan, and as John simply puts it, “Damn, there’s no one like Mike.” He continued: “For me, I use what the media says to me or what I did bad to fuel me. If somebody had 25 on [him] and he had an okay night, he’d say it like, ‘The dude came and told me that I had a bad game.’ He just uses anything to fuel him. That’s scary. We’ve never seen a person with that kind of skillset.”

And if that wasn’t enough, John says his endeavors outside of the game speak for themselves. “Just look at his shoes. When you talk about now, so many people have signature shoes. He’s still going to have the number 1 selling shoe no matter how long it is.”

5. John’s 30-day COVID-19 plan

No one knows what tomorrow holds during these times. Still, John says his main objective for the next few days will consist of being present in the moment, giving back to those who genuinely need it, and promoting unity through his relief efforts.

“The next 30 days for me is giving to my foundation, to assist it, and make it work,” John tells Terrence. “You can give money because that’s the easiest thing. But, for me, I think being present and being able to interact and touch these people is more important because they have to know we’re normal just like them. You’re Terrence J, I’m John Wall, but if you take our celebrity names off, we’re just regular people.