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Wall: I was 'pissed as hell' the Rockets didn't play me

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Los Angeles Clippers point guard John Wall says the Houston Rockets sending him home last season wasn't as much of a mutual decision as it seemed.

"Pissed as hell," Wall said about his reaction to learning he'd sit out the season, according to The Athletic's Sam Amick. "Pissed as hell. I wanted to play basketball."

Wall didn't appear in a single contest for the Rockets during the 2021-22 campaign. Reports from September 2021 suggested that Wall agreed with the team's decision to sit him while it looked for a trade partner.

The 32-year-old said Rockets officials initially planned to give him the occasional 10 minutes on the court, which he refused.

Wall tore his Achilles tendon in February 2019 and missed the entire 2019-20 campaign as a member of the Washington Wizards. Washington traded him to Houston in December 2020. He played 40 of a possible 72 games for the Rockets in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season, averaging 20.6 points and 6.9 assists.

Despite his frustration, the veteran guard says he understood the Rockets' decision to focus on playing their younger guards amid a franchise rebuild.

"I felt like I deserved to play, like I deserved to start," Wall said. "(But) if you drafted a guy No. 1, or No. 2, and he's a point guard, I totally get it. I'm not mad about that."

The Rockets selected guard Jalen Green with the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and acquired guard Kevin Porter Jr. from the Cleveland Cavaliers in January 2021. Green and Porter both started in every appearance they made for Houston last season, with the former earning All-Rookie first-team honors.

Wall signed with the Clippers as a free agent in July and has begun the season backing up Reggie Jackson. Before his stint in Houston, the five-time All-Star spent nine seasons with the Wizards, who drafted him No. 1 overall in 2010.

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