Wall vows to be better leader in wake of ejections

In the midst of a frustrating start to the season, fissures are already beginning to show for the Washington Wizards, and their best and longest-tenured player hasn't exactly been leading by example.

Point guard John Wall has been ejected from the Wizards' last two games, the first after picking up his second technical for berating an official (an incident for which he was fined $25,000), and the second for a flagrant-2 foul after leveling Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart.

Both ejections came late in games in which the outcome was already all but determined, but Wall understands that he needs to be a more reliable force for his teammates.

"For me to be the leader, I got to be able to stay in games and close out games and lead my team until the end," Wall told reporters Thursday, according to Candace Bucker of The Washington Post.

Wall also tweeted an apology shortly after Wednesday's game, in which he got tossed with just over five minutes remaining and the Wizards up 20 points.

"In a game like that with five minutes left, the game's never over," he said Thursday. "They could've had an opportunity to fight back and have a chance to win the game. I just got to do a better job as a leader. That's not my intentions to be a dirty player or anything. It's just frustration got into it where things weren't going the right way."

That's maybe a strange thing to say about a game his team led comfortably wire-to-wire, but Wall was upset with both the officiating and what he felt was some dirty play by the Celtics, specifically an instance in which Avery Bradley stepped on his finger - Wall alleged intentionally - without getting whistled for a foul.

"With the game, it was fine but I'm talking about certain calls and getting beat up," Wall explained. "So I let frustration get the best of me."

After just seven games, Wall leads the NBA with three flagrant-foul points, having also been hit with a flagrant-1 back on Oct. 30. Three more flagrant points, and Wall will automatically receive a one-game suspension.

"You got to control yourself," said Wizards head coach Scott Brooks. "The last thing you want to do is have your points add up or have your technicals add up and miss games. That puts a lot of pressure on your teammates. You want to be able to be there at all times.

"Part of being a good basketball player and a good basketball team is keeping your composure in some tough situations. When you're up 20, nothing should bother you. The only thing you should be focusing on is closing out the game and thinking about the game."