WASHINGTON — Washington Wizards star guard John Wall is taking heat for allegedly stiffing a limousine driver — twice — during his off-season trip to Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports Wall, the first overall pick of the 2010 NBA draft, didn’t tip for a ride with three other passengers from the airport, Signature Aviation, to his hotel, Aria at CityCenter.
After the limo driver dropped off Wall and was dropping off the other passengers, Wall called the driver back and said he left something on the plane and asked the driver go get it.
According to the report in the Vegas newspaper, “The limo driver, who had waited more than two hours for the late-arriving plane, drove back to Signature, picked up Wall’s dental retainer from the pilot and drove back to Aria. When she arrived, she was told to leave the teeth aligner known as Invisalign at the reception desk.
“‘I knew what that meant,’ said the driver — an invis-a-tip.'”
According to Review-Journal gossip reporter Norm Clarke, Wall “doubled-down on chutzpah.”
The driver, who was not identified in the report, says the only compensation for the day was $27.50 from the tip built into the limo reservation for four passengers.
Wall signed a five-year deal worth $80 million last summer.
WTOP has reached out to Wall through tweets and a Wizards representative, but has not heard back.
What happens in Vegas, gets tweeted
A longtime cabbie in Sin City, Andrew Gnatovich, operates a Twitter feed — @LVCabChronicles – – about what Vegas cabbies and limo drivers see, hear, think, and do.
“It started as a way to share stories of driving a cab in Vegas,” Gnatovich tells WTOP.
“Anything Vegas and cab-related is inherently sexy and marketable,” says Gnatovich.
Starting with a blog, Gnatovich has transitioned his storytelling to Twitter.
“I could do it while working from my phone, and it’s a lot easier to do it in 140 characters than thousands of words,” says Gnatovich.
Gnatovich says he personally spoke with the driver about the Wall encounter.
“Service workers here take it seriously, with people who have money but don’t tip,” says Gnatovich.
“It’s a kind of kinship,” he says.
.@John_Wall in the house to catch the @WashWizards play at the #NBASummer League in #Vegas pic.twitter.com/fVdw7j1Utz
— NBASummerLeague (@NBASummerLeague) July 16, 2014
