The only record of what happened can be found in microfilm archives deep within a courthouse located just a half mile from where Wall lived on East Davie Street: On Sept. 30, 1991 -- less than a month after his son's first birthday -- John Carroll Wall walked into a convenience store in Raleigh, removed one beer and continued to the checkout where clerk Cecil Ibegbu stood. Wall placed a $1 bill on the counter. He then removed a .22-caliber Ruger from the back of his jeans and pointed it at Ibegbu, demanding all the money in the register. He was convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon.
Sitting in the gym following his workout, Wall was told his father robbed a convenience store. He offered a slight nod and said, "Uh-huh."
Before meeting his mother, Wall's father had served three other sentences, one for armed robbery, another for possession of a firearm by a felon and a third for second-degree murder, after shooting a 26-year-old housewife in the head following an argument.
Sitting on the bleachers, Wall learned for the first time that his father had served prison time before he was born and that the crime was murder. He offered no affirmation and looked away for a moment.
"Ohhhh," he said, dragging the sound for a second. "Oh, I didn't even know. I didn't know."
He paused, but not for long. He took a quick glance at the basketball court -- the place that helped him quickly rise to stardom in high school -- before making eye contact again. He was calm, but his speech slowed.
"My mom never told me. I heard he had one robbery thing," he said. "That is all I knew. I never knew anything about that other part. She would never tell me, she would not want to tell me or my sisters."
Was he ever curious?
"I was not curious," Wall said. "I was just happy to see my dad and talk to him."
Obviously the kid has issues with many things that involve his father...I dunno how I feel about the reporter (or whoever) telling Wall about what his dad did to go to jail....