John Wall is not 100 percent healthy.
Per the Washington Post‘s Jorge Castillo, the Washington Wizards point guard is scheduled to “undergo a precautionary MRI in Washington Tuesday on his VMO [vastus medialis obliquus] muscle located just above his left knee.”
Here are some more details:
Wall has played through soreness in the muscle in recent games, which he figures is just a bruise and has made bending the knee difficult. He has started and played in every one of Washington’s 36 games this season despite various ailments, ranging from a sprained MCL to a sprained ankle to bruised ribs, and doesn’t anticipate having to miss time because of the VMO injury.
“I know you’re going to deal with nagging injuries throughout the year,” the 25-year-old Wall said after the Wizards’ victory over the Orlando Magic Saturday. “I’m perfectly fine with that. But it’s the ones that – I can’t even bend my knee without it being sore. So that’s the thing that gets frustrating.
It’s worth noting that news of John Wall’s impending MRI was relayed before the Wizards’ Monday victory over the Chicago Bulls. Wall played 31 minutes and went for 17 points, 10 assists, three steals and one block while shooting 7-of-19 from the floor, so the injury doesn’t appear to be something that will limit him to detrimental degrees.
Still, if you’re the Wizards, you want to be safe, not sorry.
Because you just can’t afford to be sorry.
Bradley Beal is already on the shelf, the Wizards are still on the outside looking in at the East’s playoff and, worse, the team is a minus-7.1 points per 100 possessions without Wall on the hardwood—a net rating comparable to that of the Brooklyn Nets (minus-7.5), according to Basketball-Reference.
Quite obviously, it’s better for the Wizards, and for John Wall, to understand what they’re dealing with as soon as possible, before they risk further, more extensive injury to the one player they cannot afford to lose.
