Sessions providing highlights on, off court in Year 2 with Washington Wizards

When asked if he knew what came up most frequently when his name was entered into a Google search these days, Ramon Sessions was a bit puzzled.

After receiving a clue that it had to do with jumping into the stands during a recent game, the Washington Wizards backup point guard erupted with laughter as he realized the answer.

“The new thing, yeah, in Orlando,” Sessions said, trying to contain his laughter.

Indeed, Sessions’ most recent fame came last month when he jumped into the front row of the stands in Orlando in attempt to save a loose ball. The Myrtle Beach native landed on a spectator, who caught him and then proceeded to give a few pats on the player’s rear end, a video that soon went viral.

“You know, it’s funny though. When it first happened I didn’t really think nothing of it,” said Sessions, who flew into Myrtle Beach for less than a day Sunday to appear for his annual Thanksgiving turkey giveaway in Racepath, the Myrtle Beach community in which he grew up. “And then a couple people hit me after the game … then I saw the video and I’m like ‘Oh man, he might’ve really did kinda …’ ”

He stopped there with a laugh and added: “It was funny though. He was fan, he was having a good time at the game. And it was one of those things that, it went viral, though, for sure. It’s been talked about. I’m sure it’s been on a few little blogs and a few sites here and there. It’s just part of the game I guess you could say.”

Aside from his fanfare for that clip, Sessions has emerged as a key bench performer for the Wizards. In his ninth season, the veteran is averaging 9.0 points, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game while backing up star John Wall.

He had one of his best games of the year as the Wizards beat the Detroit Pistons 97-95 on Saturday night to improve to 6-4. Sessions had 14 points and nine assists.

“We’re on a three-game winning streak right now. We started off good out the gate and then lost three in a row, but our schedule is good for us,” Sessions said. “We had like four games in two weeks and we was able to go in and get some practices in and kind of figure out what we needed to be doing on the defensive end more than anything. And right now we’ve got it clicking. We’ve got to keep it going and keep defending. At the end of the day, we’re playing a faster pace, but at the end of the day we still got to know that defense is going to win games.”

Saturday’s performance was a good example of what the Wizards expect out of Sessions, a nine-year veteran they acquired at the trade deadline a season ago. Wall and backcourt mate Bradley Beal – who average a combined 37 points per game for the season – mustered just 15 points against the Pistons.

Luckily for Washington, Sessions had one of his better scoring performances of the season as the bench outscored Detroit 51-15.

“Those guys, we depend on them so much, so, you know, on nights where, you know, they may not have it going other guys got to step up,” Sessions said. “It’s one of those things that, you know, with those guys I know I got to just come in and, you know, just be aggressive and play my role and just try to pick up from where they left off at because arguably they’re one of the best backcourts in the NBA.”

After a season in which he spent the first half of the year seeing his playing time dwindle in Sacramento before later being traded to a Wizards team in the thick of the playoff race, Sessions said he’s enjoying Year 2 in Washington.

“It’s great, man. It’s a place where I know my role. It’s a place, you know, I know what we’re trying to do, I know what we’re trying to accomplish,” he said. “It’s a great team and it’s just a great atmosphere. It’s something I really enjoying going to work everyday and trying to get better and help the team.”

It’s a Wizards squad some consider to be a threat to unseating defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland as the season moves forward. So far, though, the East has proved to be a deep conference.

“It’s one of those things where the East has gotten a lot better. Everybody is kind of even-keel right now in the East and there’s a lot of teams that got better, there’s a lot of teams that’s healthy now,” Sessions said. “It’s going to be a tough battle. It’s going to be a good 82-game season.”

And while the fast-paced Wizards are one of the more entertaining teams to watch offensively, Sessions said the team’s hopes this year will hinge on the other side of the ball.

“It’s going to start with defense,” he said. “You know, like I said, I think we’ve got the fastest pace maybe offensively in the league, but we know on the defensive end that’s where it’s going to come down to. And we’ve just got to grind it out. It’s going to be a long season. There’s going to be ups and downs. We’ve just got to stay with it. The one thing about us is we’ve got a veteran team. That helps when it’s a lot of ups and downs. But just stay committed and keep doing what we do and keep winning games as much as we can.”

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Sessions providing highlights on, off court in Year 2 with Washington Wizards."