“When you’ve got your own logo, it brightens your day. You wouldn’t think you’d be in a situation where you have your own shoe, or anything like that,” Wall said. “It’s still kind of shocking, a dream come true, to be in this situation. That’s big and going into my third season, this is a big year, basketball wise and marketing wise, to try to see what you’re going up to be. I’m just ready to get out and play.”
Reebok is taking a different approach with its latest ad campaign, filming a more mature Wall and abandoning the cartoons that were used in previous commercials that highlighted his youth. His new commercial will premiere on Nov. 15 and it will showcase Wall in familiar landmarks from his home town and with friends he has known most of his life.
Wall was also very involved in the design of his latest shoe. He sought having his signature on the side and baseball stitching on the tongue and back of his shoes.
The baseball stitching seems like an odd choice since Wall’s career as a shortstop and pitcher came to an end when he was in fifth grade and an errant throw broke his nose. He also had one of the worst first pitches ever at Nationals Park two years ago, when the ball slipped from his hand and bounced on the grass.
“I got to do that again,” Wall said with a laugh. The Nationals didn’t ask him to throw during the postseason but said he would’ve had to decline. “I didn’t want to do it for the playoffs, then do it bad and have them say they lost because of that. . . . Probably, the pitch would’ve been worse than that, with the way that I’m injured. I can’t plant.”
Nene timetable uncertain
Sidelined since he aggravated the plantar fasciitis in his left foot while representing Brazil in the London Olympics in August, Nene visited a foot specialist in Baltimore this week and received electric stimulation treatment for the nagging problem.
When asked whether he will be available when the Wizards open the regular season Oct. 30 in Cleveland, Nene refused to make a commitment either way.
“I’m not going to say,” Nene said. “That’s the reason I don’t say. I don’t know. I want to, but sometimes it does not go the way you want. I just want to make sure I’m healthy to help my team because if I sit down again, that’s not good.”
Six signed through 2013-14
John Wall, Trevor Booker, Kevin Seraphin, Jordan Crawford, Jan Vesely and Chris Singleton will be kept under contract for at least one more season after this one. The Wizards exercised the contract options of all six of the first-round draft picks they obtained in the first two years since beginning their rebuilding efforts.
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