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John Wall and Russell Westbrook were traded for one another prior to the 2020-2021 NBA season. Wall, who spent the first ten seasons of his career with the Washington Wizards prior to the trade, recently opened up on how he found out about the trade on the Tidal League podcast, stating:
"Russ DM's me out of nowhere. I know Russ. Me and Russ cool, say what's up to each other if I see you, but a lot of people you just don't have they number. Like, I got respect for you, but I just don't got that relationship."
He continued:
"So, he DM's me like, 'yo, what's your number?' I'm like, 'f**k you mean, what's my number?' He texts me like, 'yo, DC wants to get me, but they said you don't want to leave'. I'm like, 'f**k no, ni**a, been here for ten years. This my franchise. Why would I want to leave?'
Wall shared that after Westbrook informed him that the Wizards were looking to make the trade, he asked his agent before hearing about it publicly. He then discussed Bradley Beal's reaction, stating:
"I come out here work out for a month. Brad all mad about this s**t. I get it. We had a real conversation, like man to man talked about it and s**t. My brother. Nothing against him. Still love him to death. He was there for me when my mom passed when a lot of motherf**kers weren't."
He added:
"We talking and s**t and I'm like, 'well, what we gonna do? We gonna run it back one more year or you don't know?' Once he said, 'I got to think about it', I knew I was traded. You got to think about it, some s**t going different."
While many felt that the Wizards did not handle the departure well, it is shocking to hear that Beal was involved in the decision considering how close him and Wall have been off the court.
Watch John Wall discuss hearing about his trade from Russell Westbrook below:
Who won the John Wall and Russell Westbrook trade?
It was quite a surprise to see John Wall and Russell Westbrook traded for one another after the latter spent just one season with the Houston Rockets.
While both teams had high hopes, the trade has not panned out for either franchise. Russell Westbrook was once again traded after one season in which the Washington Wizards were just 34-38 and eliminated from the postseason in five games. John Wall had even less success with the Rockets as James Harden was traded just over a month later, leading the team to embrace tanking.
Neither franchise has had much success, however, the Rockets have had back-to-back top-three picks and could be en route to another. The Wizards did land Kyle Kuzma in return for Westbrook, however, his long-term future with the franchise is still in question. While the trade is currently a wash, the Rockets could end up as big winners simply due to their willingness to bottom out and accrue talent.
Guess the Lakers players!
