WASHINGTON — When Cliff Beckford learned in December 2020 that John Wall, the former No. 1 overall draft pick and decade-long face of Washington’s NBA franchise, had been traded to Houston in a swap of former All-Star point guards, his reaction was swift.
“I was upset,” Beckford said. “You can quote that.”
This was not the thinking of an armchair general manager concerned by Russell Westbrook’s fit alongside his new Wizards teammates. Beckford is the executive director of Lydia’s House, a non-profit foundation that supports at-risk families in Washington’s poorest neighborhoods, predominantly the seventh and eighth wards in the city’s southeastern area.
