John Wall Left Out Of Olympic Training Camp

Snub.  The word is commonly associated with those regarding all-star games or in this case the Olympics.  Last week, Washington Wizards point guard John Wall was as well defined a snub as possible.  The USA Olympic Basketball Committee decided not to invite Wall to the 28-man Olympic training camp.  The former Kentucky Wildcat was a victim of possibly the strongest position in the player pool as Chris Paul, Derek Rose, Damian Lilliard, Deron Williams, Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, and Kyrie Irving were all picked in front of the aforementioned Wall.

Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Post reported that Wall would use this decision as motivation moving forward, as the Wizards hope to take their first leap into the post season since 2007.  Wall said, “They made their list, they made their decision, and that’s what they’re happy with.  I’ll just have to look past that.”

Another Wizard, Bradley Beal, was chosen as one of the 14 new comers to the team’s player pool.  Beal has been extremely impressive in his second NBA season, tallying 16.9 points per game, but has been marred by injury.

The decision to keep Wall out of the USA player pool is a very surprising choice, but may benefit Wall.  The fourth year man has always been recognized as one of the premier players, and keeping Wall out of the group will be great motivation moving forward.  Team USA will miss out on a prime opportunity to develop one of the younger point guards into the league into a formidable Olympic threat and with Derek Rose and Russell Westbrook injured the decision is questionable.