Did Trae Young Let Slip That The Wizards Will Retire John Wall's Jersey?

Trae Young has been a member of the Washington Wizards roster for all of a hot minute, but it appears that he’s already been privy to the team’s inner workings.

During Young’s introductory press conference on Saturday, fans expected the typical “I’m happy to be here” message that NBA stars say when they move to another team. What no one quite anticipated, however, was a slip of the tongue that seemed to reveal the Wizards’ plans for one of their most beloved players of all time.

“I walked into the arena yesterday, and I was telling [Wizards GM Will Dawkins] how I want to see this place sold out,” Young told reporters. “I remember seeing this place and, we’re about to retire John Wall’s jersey, and just seeing it as a kid, packed out, I wanna get it back to that.”

That the Wizards want to retire the jersey of Wall, a five-time All-Star who led the Wizards to four playoff appearances in the 2010s, is not surprising in and of itself. What is eyebrow-raising is the fact that the Wizards organization had not publicly announced jersey retirement plans for Wall prior to Young’s press conference.

For what it’s worth, the NBA announced last week that the Wizards will be holding a “John Wall Celebration Night” on January 29 when the team hosts the Milwaukee Bucks at Capital One Arena. Though the NBA’s press release included details such as a John Wall bobblehead giveaway for the first 15,000 fans in attendance, there was no mention of a ceremony as momentous as a jersey going up to the rafters.

In his nine-year stint with the Wizards, Wall lived up to the hype of being the 2010 NBA Draft’s top overall pick. An athletic scorer with impressive court vision, Wall averaged 19.0 points and 9.2 assists during his time in Washington. He also became a pop culture sensation, thrilling fans with his rendition of the Dougie that he whipped out during pre-game introductions.

If Wall is indeed heading towards his jersey retirement on January 29, the Wizards fanbase would lose their minds if “Teach Me How to Dougie” blared inside the venue. And if Young joins him for a quick dance-off, the newly acquired All-Star would endear himself to that crowd even more.