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Rasheed Wallace: The Biography Of The 'Ball Don't Lie' Trash-Talker And NBA Champion

Originally posted on Fadeaway World | By Titan Frey | Last updated 9/28/22

The life and career of NBA champion and bad boy Rasheed Wallace

The NBA has seen many stars play the game of basketball throughout its 75 years. For these players, we've seen many types, from the super athletic to players whose skill level is off the charts.

We have also witnessed players who kept a low profile to players who made the news every other day for their antics on and off the court. On top of this, we have also seen players who play the game with their emotions. This can lead to good things on the court and sometimes bad.

One of the players that the NBA has seen who has played the game with his emotions on a level 10 every single night was Rasheed Wallace. This emotion helped him lead a team of no superstars to heights no one could predict. It also has led to him earning a record amount of technical fouls.

The media often portrayed Wallace as a bad guy, but this wasn't necessarily the truth, as you will soon see. Without further ado, Fadeaway World presents the biography of Rasheed Wallace.

Rasheed Wallace Becomes A High School And College Basketball Star

As a young man growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wallace saw some troubling times. His family wasn't the richest, as his mother worked at the Welfare office. Wallace has two older brothers, Malcolm and Muhammad, which meant things were tight, money-wise, around the house.

Growing up, Wallace's father was in and out of his life, which meant he grew up mainly in a single-parent home. This led to Wallace never gaining a bond with his father.

On top of his home life, the area Wallace lived in wasn't the best. The Wallace family lived in Germantown, which is in North Philadelphia. Germantown had its problems with drugs and violence, something that could've led Wallace down the wrong path.

Luckily for Wallace, he didn't fall down that trap. He found something that kept him away from drugs, and that was the game of basketball.

“All the drug dealers would sell their drugs maybe on one end of the block or in a little section, and we could play and have fun in another section,” Wallace explained. “I lived across the street from my elementary school, and in the schoolyard we could always go play there and know we were safe.”

Wallace would go on to attend Simon Gratz High School, and there he'd blossom into a basketball star while learning the values of the game. As a senior, Wallace averaged 16 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 blocks per game while playing only 19 minutes per game.

The reason why Wallace's minutes were so low was that he learned in his early years of high school that team success was the most important thing in basketball. When Wallace's team would get a big lead, Wallace would ask to come out, so his teammates would get a chance to play.

Wallace's play led to him being named USA Today's High School Player of the Year in 1992-93. He was also selected for the Basketball Digest All-American First Team. Since Wallace was a phenomenon on the court, he had plenty of colleges bidding for his services.

Wallace would choose the University of North Carolina, where he'd play under legendary coach Dean Smith. Coach Smith was notorious for bringing up underclassmen slowly so that they can hone their skills.

For Wallace, he would see a decent amount of minutes for being a freshman. Wallace would play 21 minutes per game as a freshman, and he averaged 9.5 points and 6.6. rebounds per game.

As a sophomore, Wallace's role on the team would expand. He played 30 minutes per game while averaging 16.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Wallace also helped the Tar Heels reach the Final Four, where they lost to the University of Arkansas.

Despite the loss, Wallace had an incredible year where he was named Second Team All-American. After his sophomore year concluded, Wallace decided the time was right to move on from college as he entered the NBA Draft.

Rasheed Wallace Becomes An NBA Bad Boy And A Champion

The Washington Bullets selected Wallace with the fourth pick in the 1995 NBA Draft. Wallace would play in 65 games while starting 51 as a rookie, thanks to an injury to the Bullets' star power forward, Chris Webber.

As a rookie, Wallace averaged 10.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Wallace's play led to him being named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

At first glance, Wallace appeared to have had a great rookie season, but it wasn't as perfect as one might think. Wallace struggled with his attitude throughout the season, and his dedication appeared to be lacking.

Wallace would routinely show up to practice late, and the Bullets would start to fine him for lateness. He also struggled to hold back his temper on the court, as he earned 22 technical fouls in his 65 games.

To go along with his attitude, Wallace broke his thumb as a rookie, which is why he only suited up for 65 games, and these issues led to the Bullets trading Wallace after the season.

While Wallace was playing in Washington as a rookie, he also had some off-court issues. Wallace had a son, which was great, but the mother of his child, his ex-girlfriend, fought for custody of Wallace's son. This led to Wallace's girlfriend accusing him of assaulting her.

Wallace would be charged with disorderly conduct, and this led to him not being allowed to pick his son up from daycare. After some battles in court, Wallace would be granted full custody of his son, but his happy ending wouldn't come just yet.

Wallace's girlfriend took their son and ran off. It would tragically take two years before Wallace tracked down his son, reuniting with him on Christmas day, 1998.

On the basketball court with the Blazers, Wallace had a decent year, averaging 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds per game before breaking his thumb once again.

Wallace would eventually get more playing time in Portland, and the team would see some success. By the 1999-2000 season, Wallace was averaging 16.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game while leading the Trail Blazers to a 59-23 record.

The Trail Blazers would reach the Western Conference Finals, where they'd play the powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers, led by MVP Shaquille O'Neal and up-and-coming star Kobe Bryant. The series would go to seven games, and in that seventh game, Wallace would lead both teams in scoring with 30 points.

Unfortunately, the Trail Blazers would blow a 13-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter, as the team went seven minutes and 30 seconds without scoring at one stretch in the final period. This included missing 13 straight shots, with Wallace missing key shots down the stretch.

The Trail Blazers would lose 89-84, while the Lakers would go on to win the NBA championship. Wallace might have missed some key shots in the fourth quarter for the Trail Blazers, but during the 1999-2000 season, Wallace didn't miss on one stat: collecting technical fouls.

Wallace broke the record for most technical fouls in the 1999-2000 season with 38 technical fouls. The following season, Wallace would break his own record by receiving 41 technical fouls, and this is still the NBA record for most technical fouls in a season.

During that same season, Wallace threw a towel at teammate Arvydas Sabonis' face, while in the 2002-03 season, Wallace threatened referee Tim Donaghy and received a seven-game suspension for this.

Trail Blazers coach, Maurice Cheeks, believes the suspension came about for another reason surrounding Wallace:

“It's absolutely not fair,” Cheeks said. “I certainly don't believe he deserved seven games. I think this is a result of Rasheed's reputation and the Portland Trail Blazers' reputation.”

Wallace did, indeed, gain a reputation as a hothead in the league. On top of all the technical fouls, Wallace was also being regularly thrown out of games. Wallace holds the record for the most career ejections with 29.

For his entire career, Wallace ranks third in total technical fouls with 317. He trails only Charles Barkley (329) and Karl Malone (332). The Portland Trail Blazers front office eventually had enough of Wallace's attitude, and they traded him to the Atlanta Hawks on February 9, 2004.

Wallace's stay in Atlanta would only last one game, where he scored 20 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and collected 5 blocks in a loss to the New Jersey Nets. Then, on February 19, the Hawks traded Wallace to the Detroit Pistons, and this trade would be the best thing to happen in Wallace's career.

Rasheed Wallace would join Ben Wallace, Richard Hamilton, and Chauncey Billups while being coached by the legendary Larry Brown. This structure was what Wallace needed, and the Pistons needed Wallace's fiery attitude, offense, and his defense.

Wallace played like a man given a second chance because he essentially was given a second chance to show what he could do. Unlike his time in Portland, Wallace made the most of it.

In his first year with the Pistons, Wallace played in 21 games while averaging 13.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. The Pistons made the playoffs as the third seed with a 54-28 record.

Detroit made their way through the Eastern Conference, eventually defeating the top-seeded Indiana Pacers in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pistons were back in the Finals for the first time since 1990, and Wallace would have a chance at redemption.

Wallace's Trail Blazers lost to the Shaq and Kobe-led Lakers in the 2000 Western Conference Finals. Now, in 2004, as a member of the Pistons, Wallace would take on the Shaq and Kobe-led Lakers in the NBA Finals.

This time around, Wallace wouldn't be denied. Wallace would average 13.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, and a team-leading 1.6 blocks per game. The Pistons would destroy the Lakers as they won the series 4-1 and the championship.

Wallace's Retirement And Coaching Career

After winning the NBA championship in 2004, Wallace's Pistons would reach the NBA Finals in the following season. This time, they'd be on the losing end, as the San Antonio Spurs defeated them in seven games.

Wallace would never see another NBA Finals in his career, and his career in Detroit would end in 2009 when the Pistons traded him to the Boston Celtics. After one year in Boston, Wallace retired from the game.

After two years of retirement, Wallace returned to the NBA to play for the New York Knicks. Wallace would play 21 games before he broke his left foot, leading to his second and final retirement.

After retiring from the NBA, Wallace returned to the Pistons as an assistant coach in 2013. In 2019, Wallace became the head coach at Charles E. Jordan High School in Durham, North Carolina. On August 18, 2021, Wallace became an assistant coach at the University of Memphis.

Rasheed Wallace went from a young kid growing up in a bad area to a high school star who cared about his teammates. Wallace developed into a bad boy in the NBA before becoming an NBA champion.

Wallace is now a coach, and this goes to show you that no matter how you've grown up or how your attitude was, you can make something of yourself, like Rasheed Wallace becoming an NBA champion.