WASHINGTON — The last time the Washington Wizards won the NBA Draft Lottery, that year’s draft had a clear presumptive No. 1 pick: John Wall, a lightning-fast point guard from the University of Kentucky.
This Sunday, 16 years later, Wall will represent the Wizards on stage in Chicago when this year’s lottery results are announced, a team spokesperson said.
“I think it’s a full-circle moment going back to 2010 for me, when they ended up getting the No. 1 pick,” Wall said in an interview with The Athletic. “So it’s a full-circle moment there, rekindling and building a relationship with the organization all over again after being traded and things like that.
“Ted Leonsis and his family and the Wizards organization gave me an opportunity to live out my dreams of playing in the NBA and making me a franchise guy.”
Wall played nine seasons for the Wizards, earning five All-Star nods and an All-NBA third-team selection before injuries derailed his career. In December 2020, he was traded to the Houston Rockets.
During the 2025-26 regular season, Wall and team officials, including Leonsis, Monumental Sports & Entertainment principal owner and CEO, renewed ties. Wall worked as a studio analyst for a slate of Wizards games broadcast on Monumental Sports Network, and in January, team officials honored him during halftime of a game. He also got to know Wizards general manager Will Dawkins and Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger.
Representing the franchise on stage during the lottery announcement will be the next logical step in that process.
“I think also (it was) just a full-circle moment working for Monumental Sports this year, being around the new people, Will and Mike,” Wall said. “So I think all that’s working out the way it’s supposed to. And they asked me, ‘Did I want to do it?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, for sure, why not?’
“I think the fan base will love it, and I think it’ll lead to some excitement. I mean, we know we’re locked in to get a top-five pick. And, hopefully, I can bring some luck, and it’ll end up being another No. 1 pick.”
Because the Wizards ended the regular season with sole possession of the league’s worst record, they can fall in Sunday’s lottery to no worse than the fifth pick in the upcoming draft, which is said to feature more star-potential depth at the top than in at least several years.
Washington will have a 14.0 percent chance of winning the lottery, a 13.4 percent probability of receiving the second pick, 12.7 percent odds of obtaining the third pick, a 12.0 percent chance of getting the fourth pick and a 47.9 percent likelihood of receiving the fifth pick.
Wall will be on stage for the nationally televised announcement of the lottery results at 3 p.m. ET Sunday.
The actual lottery drawing will occur before the broadcast in a separate, sealed-off room. Winger will be the Wizards’ representative in that room, a team spokesperson said.
To bring good luck, Wall said he will wear a necklace that includes a pendant with a photo of his mother, Frances Pulley, who passed away in 2019 after a battle against cancer. That picture of his mom was taken on April 30, 2016, when he accompanied her to that year’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
In 2010, the lottery was held in Secaucus, N.J., but Wall watched the proceedings on TV from his agent’s home in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Wall formally retired as a player in August.
Last month, Howard University named him president of basketball operations for its men’s basketball team.
“My ultimate goal is to try to be a GM one day,” Wall said. “I think I know how to put a team together. But also, you’ve got to understand the financial side and the business side of that. So, I think becoming president of the basketball operations for Howard gives me the opportunity to learn.”
