Like this one, for example: an ESPN preseason promotional graphic that featured a whole lot of NBA point guards, none of whom plays in Washington.

“Jokes,” Wall noted, when he retweeted it.

During a lengthy interview with Taylor Rooks this month on her podcast, Wall was asked if NBA observers haven’t ranked him as high as they should; “still don’t,” Wall replied. Rooks asked him why that might be.

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“I don’t know,” he said. “Politics. They probably don’t like me. I don’t know. I speak my mind; so I don’t hold my tongue for nobody. And like I always say, some people come in this league and blossom very early. I didn’t have that opportunity, because I dealt with injuries, which I’m fine with. God has a plan with everything, so my time is now and I’m taking full advantage of it.”

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“But yeah, I still don’t [get the recognition],” Wall went on. “Some people are like ‘Well, is he a top five point guard?’ There’s only two people that averaged 20 [points] and 10 [assists] last year other than me, and I barely made an all-NBA team! So I use all that as motivation. I mean, I was what, I think top two in steals, number one in steals maybe, and I didn’t make all-defensive team. Because it’s all politics about certain players. They benefit from what they did in their past. But when the time has come and they’re not doing the same things they used to do, you’ve got to get them off the books.”

Wall has his facts correct. James Harden and Russell Westbrook were the only other players to average 20 and 10 last season. And Wall finished second in steals per game, percentage points behind Draymond Green and percentage points ahead of Chris Paul. Harden, Westbrook and Paul are commonly mentioned above Wall on the top point guards list, along with Steph Curry, and sometimes Kyrie Irving or Isaiah Thomas or Kyle Lowry or Damian Lillard.

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Anyhow, one analyst apparently has a different list. ESPN’s Paul Pierce said this week that he considers Wall “the best point guard in the league.”

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“First off, he’s so fast and dynamic,” Pierce said in an online video segment about Wall. “You can’t get up on him and crowd him; that’s when he drives to the hole. He’ll dunk on you with the left, with the right. He has the handles of a small guy, even though he stands 6-3. He has the speed of an NFL running back. So you pretty much have to give him space and let him shoot the jumper. If not, he’ll embarrass you all night.”

It’s worth noting here that less than a year ago, Pierce declared that Thomas was “easily the best point guard in the Eastern Conference.” (Which might seem to be a contradiction, but the Truth is large; it contains multitudes.) Also, Pierce has already called Wall the NBA’s best point guard at least once before, in the spring of 2015, when they were teammates in Washington.

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“Top to bottom, he’s the best point guard,” Pierce said during the 2015 playoffs. “You talk about Stephen Curry, the amazing things he’s done, the three-point shooting, but I just look at overall game. You look at the way [Wall] can score, the way he can pass, the way he can defend. Top to bottom I think he’s the best point guard in the league.”

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More than two years later, Pierce is still full of praise.

“John Wall’s speed is equivalent to The Flash,” he said. “I mean, this guy, he’s a blur in the open court. This guy’s probably the fastest end to end with the ball. If John Wall is running at you and you’re a defender and he’s going full speed, you’re pretty much at his mercy — expect to be on SportsCenter that night.”

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Especially on nights when Wall is already playing on ESPN, as he is Wednesday night, in a high-profile meeting with Lonzo Ball and the Lakers. Which was occasion for L.A. Coach Luke Walton to also be asked whether Wall is sometimes overlooked in the leaguewide conversation.

“I’m not in the leaguewide conversation, so I don’t know how overlooked he is,” Walton answered. “I know from my personal view on him, I think he is an elite, elite point guard in this league.”

Walton also called Wall “the fastest point guard — or any player in the league — with the ball in his hands, coast to coast.”

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Meanwhile, in the preseason conversation with Rooks, Wall was asked how he can get over the recognition hump.

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“Me? If I don’t, I don’t care,” he replied. “I know people know how good I am playing basketball. . . . All I do is just use it as motivation: keep getting better, keep doing the same stuff and doing it even better. People know. They’ll look at my history book and my legacy when I’m done, what type of player [I was] and numbers I put up. And sometimes you get snubbed. That’s a part of it. . . . I’ve been snubbed my whole life in a lot of things, but it doesn’t bother me.”

Wall is right that he’s blunt; I think he almost always tells the truth. But I don’t believe those final four words.

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