It’s time for the Washington Wizards to break up

The Washington Wizards are spiraling out of control. It’s time for the organization to make a change.

The Washington Wizards are 1-6. Somehow, though, it feels much worse. Sure, we’re only seven games into the 2018-19 season and their starting center hasn’t played a minute yet, but the Wizards’ fanbase has quickly gone from cautious optimism to utter despair. The problems Washington has faced in the past few years have quickly resurfaced, and the Wiz Kids appear to be drowning.

The Wizards feel like your parents right before they get a divorce.

It started with a single John Wall. He was young, eager, and just wanted to go out and dance every night. It was fun for a while, but we all knew he needed something else, something more.

Then general manager Ernie Grunfeld introduced him to Bradley Beal. When they first got together, the chemistry was there. It felt like a great match. They were traveling all over together and going out almost every night, showing the world what the future could be like if they stayed together.

Then there was illness. Brad couldn’t seem to stay healthy and the bright future everyone envisioned clouded a bit. But they worked through it. They built up the home, bringing in Otto Porter Jr. and others. They kept pushing and finally gave everyone a glimpse of how good they really could be together, making a few playoff appearances and going as far as the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Everything was going great, so they decided to tie the knot. They signed Brad, Otto and John to max deals, declared D.C. their forever home, and began the honeymoon phase. There were no-look dimes, step-back 3s, crossovers, and alley-oops. They gave birth to a whole new fanbase in D.C. It seemed like things could only get better.

Then they didn’t. In fact, they got a whole lot worse. We watched the chemistry fade and stayed up late listening to them bicker in the other room. The spark was gone.

As it seems this era of basketball in the nation’s capital is coming to a close, we’re left wondering what went wrong. This marriage seemed nearly perfect on paper, so how did things come crashing down so heavily?

The biggest answer is chemistry. It’s as important as the players’ skills or the offense you run. It’s a concept that seems to escape Grunfeld. And don’t mistake on-court chemistry for off-court chemistry, although both need to be tight for any team to be great. You can love your teammate but not mesh well on the court.

When teammates don’t fully trust each other, it’s hard for a player, especially one of the best 400 or so basketball players in the world, to push that distrust out of his head in the middle of competition. In a game that boils down to split-second decisions, any hesitation means a shot is gone or a passing lane has closed. If you look over to your teammate and think, “He’s open, but I think he might miss or turn it over if I give it to him,” the other team has already taken the ball and dunked on the other end.