Source: Michael Reaves / Getty
The Wizards are sitting in 10th place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference and aren’t even .500 on the season, but their 2018-19 campaign just took a turn for the worst.
Star point guard John Wall ruptured his Achilles tendon after slipping and falling at his home. He will be sidelined for a year, and was already out for the remainder of the season because of an injured heel. The rupture was discovered by a team doctor during a procedure to clean out an infection in the incision. The infection developed in Wall’s left heel after a January surgery.
The five-time All-Star has been having leg issues since the beginning of his career as a Wizard. As far back as 2012, he missed the beginning of the season with a knee injury. Then, in 2016, he missed nine games because of another knee injury. After that, he was sidelined for the next six-to-eight weeks after a troublesome knee surgery during the 2017-18 season.
“Wall had developed an infection in the incision from initial surgery on Jan. 8 (a debridement and repair of a Haglund’s deformity and a chronic Achilles tendon injury in his left heel that was also performed by Dr. Anderson) and he suffered the rupture after slipping and falling in his home,” a Wizards statement reads. The rupture was diagnosed by Wizards Director of Medical Services and Orthopedist Dr. Wiemi Douoguih during a procedure to clean out the infection.”
The procedure, which has yet to be scheduled, will be performed by Dr. Robert Anderson in Green Bay, WI—already marking his second surgery this year.
Wall’s four-year contract extension, which will pay him an average of $42 million a season, kicks in next season. This puts the Wizards in a precarious situation, because he’ll likely be out for most 2019-20 season.
