The Top 5 Assists Of John Wall’s Career

The future of the Washington Bullets Wizards rests in the hands of John Wall. The young point guard signed a max-level extension this offseason before he begins his fourth year in the league. Today, he turns 23 years old, and we’re celebrating by providing you the top 5 assists of his still-young career.

We could have brought you his best dunks, or his most acrobatic finishes at the rim (there are a lot of them), but instead we have chosen to honor Wall’s 23rd birthday by bringing you a basketball trait that’s often left unexplored: passing. Though Wall’s progression in the latter portion of last season stemmed primarily from his ability to knock down a jumper, his passing could be what eventually sets him apart from the abundance of young NBA point guards.

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5. Back-door pass from mid-court.

This was Wall’s rookie year in Washington, and while it was a rather unremarkable campaign for the NBA’s No. 1 overall draft pick, he showed enough flashes of speed with the ball that it was impossible not to see a bright future. His passing hadn’t really developed to where it is now — despite averaging 8.3 assists, which is the highest of his three-year career — but that didn’t mean he wasn’t sharing the ball. In fact, you could make the case this was his best passing season since his jumper was so dreadful and so were the Wiz. But this mid-court bounce pass was Magic-esque in its audacity and end result.

4. Spinning no-look wraparound in traffic.

Ahh yes, the halcyon days featuring a Wizards team with JaVale McGee. In this brief clip, Wall dribbles hard left and performs his trademark spin move back to the right. Then he jumps as if to finish at the rim — while drawing two defenders in the process — before wrapping the ball around one of them to a trailing McGee. It’s a flash of what’s to come, and it shows everything that’s so exciting about Wall: his balance, his ball-handling and his vision.

3. Behind-the-back no-look flip to the trailer.

You’ll see that Wall passes the ball behind his back to himself before flicking the ball to a cutting Trevor Ariza flashing from behind. Wall uses the same behind-the-back move to set himself up in the open floor, but it’s doubly impressive when he picks up the dribble to go behind his back and still finds a teammate. You’re probably going to complain about traveling, but he does it all within the limits of the two steps.

2. Behind-the-back no-look dish with the off hand from across the body.

This is similar to No. 3 on our list, with a slight difference. Wall uses the behind-the-back move to elude his defender again, but rather than pass to the side he’s ending the move on, he spots a cutting teammate along the baseline on the opposite side. So Wall goes behind his back while moving right, but spots Emeka Okafor cutting along the baseline out of the left corner of his eye. Wall displays remarkable control of his body and the ball, and shows off some nifty peripheral vision.

1. Ankle breaking cross-over flick to the cutter on the baseline.

This was just an excuse to watch him break poor Ish Smith‘s ankles again before dumping off a pass to Kevin Seraphin for an easy layup. Just watch it over-and-over again like we have today.

BONUS:

Did we miss any?

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