To fans of Washington’s professional basketball team, John Wall is the latest symbol of the bad luck that always seems to cut in whenever they dance briefly with what appears to be good fortune. To the petty, he’s now nothing more than a bad contract, an immovable salary cap albatross handicapping the foreseeable future for the Wizards. To those who know him, Wall is a scrapper in for a fight that will test his character like never before.



It’s a shame what becomes of the conversation whenever a player on a guaranteed, long-term contract suffers a career-threatening or potentially debilitating injury. Rarely is the humanity of that individual invoked. Rarely is that pain viewed in the prism of more relatable suffering. The cold, often callous world of professional sports doesn’t allow for perspective that doesn’t involve speculation, trade scenarios and financial implications. Enough of that will be ingested over the next few weeks,...