Rasheed Wallace

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Basketball player
Rasheed Wallace
Rasheed Wallace 2 cropped.jpg
Player information
Full name Rasheed Abdul Wallace
birthday 17th September 1974 (age 45)
place of birth Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA
size 211 cm
Weight 104 kg
position Power Forward / Center
college North Carolina
NBA draft 1995 , 4th pick, Washington Bullets
Clubs as active
1995–1996 Washington Bullets 1996–2004 Portland Trail Blazers 2004 Atlanta Hawks 2004–2009 Detroit Pistons 2009–2010 Boston Celtics 2012–2013 New York KnicksUnited StatesUnited States
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Clubs as coaches
2013–2014 Detroit Pistons (Assistant) Since 2019 Jordan High School United StatesUnited States
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Rasheed Abdul Wallace (born September 17, 1974 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ) is a retired American basketball player and current coach. As a player, he was active in the US professional league NBA from 1995 to 2013 . Wallace is a four-time NBA All-Star and won the 2004 NBA Championship with the Detroit Pistons .

Player career

Early years

Wallace was born and raised in Philadelphia. He attended Simon Gratz High School and was in 1993 by the magazine USA Today for High School Player of the Year nominated. Although he was on the field for only 19 minutes per game in his senior year in high school, he averaged 16 points, 15 rebounds and 7 blocks. Aside from basketball, Wallace was also into athletics and high jump.

Wallace was recruited to Chapel Hill , North Carolina by Coach Dean Smith of the University of North Carolina . He only spent two years in college but received national attention when he was elected All-American . In 1995 he led the Tar Heels together with his teammate Jerry Stackhouse into the Final Four of the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship .

Washington Bullets (1995 to 1996)

After his two years in college, he was drafted to fourth position by the Washington Bullets in 1995 . In his first season, he took part in 65 Bullets games and was even on the starting line-up for injured Chris Webber in 51 of the games . As part of the NBA All-Star Weekend , he was selected for the NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge . Shortly before the end of the season, he suffered a severe thumb fracture and had to sit out until the next season. Nevertheless, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team for his achievements in his first year as a professional .

Portland Trail Blazers (1996 to 2004)

After his first season in the NBA, Wallace was sent to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Rod Strickland . Wallace shone at the Blazers with the third-best batting average in the league, but he broke his left thumb again and had to sit out for a month. He returned in time for the 1997 playoffs and showed a strong performance against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round, but the Blazers were beaten by their opponents.

Before the 1997/98 NBA season , Wallace signed a new contract with Portland and began to integrate into the community. Among other things, he founded the Rasheed Wallace Foundation. Still, his career suffered from his appearance on and off the field. Wallace, along with other African-American players like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, was among the first to be fined by the NBA in the early 21st century for the length of their shorts. The (white) Utah Jazz player John Stockton never had to pay a comparable fine for his hot pants .

With 38 technical fouls, Wallace set a new NBA record in the 1999/00 season , which he was even able to surpass a year later with 40 technical fouls. To date, Wallace holds the record for most technical fouls in NBA history at 304. For example, in a playoff game against the Lakers, Wallace looked referee Ron Garretson in the eye, for which the latter gave him a technical foul for an "intimidating look," which USC Professor Todd Boyd compared to the charge of reckless eyeballing ( reckless eyeballing ) . Reckless eyeballing involved failing to drop the eyelids at white men or staring at white women, and in Jim Crow's time , African Americans could be lynched for it. In 2003, Wallace was suspended from the NBA for seven games because he is said to have threatened referee Tim Donaghy, who had been sentenced to 15 months in prison for bribery in 2007, after a home game.

During his time with the Trail Blazers, Wallace was twice named NBA All-Star and led the team to the Western Conference finals in both 1999 and 2000 . Both times they lost to the team that would later win the NBA championship.

Atlanta Hawks (2004)

On February 9, 2004, Wallace was sent to the Atlanta Hawks along with Wesley Person in exchange for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Theo Ratliff and Dan Dickau . Wallace only played one game for Atlanta. In that loss to the New Jersey Nets , he scored 20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks, 2 assists and a steal.

Detroit Pistons (2004 to 2009)

A few days later, Wallace landed in Detroit after a three-team swap with the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons . He took part in the last 22 games of the Pistons in the 2003/04 NBA season and scored 13.7 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1.8 assists and 1.1 steals on average per game. Wallace turned out to be exactly the player the Pistons needed to make it to the top of the NBA. Together with his teammate Ben Wallace , he formed the best throw blocker duo in the league with 4.89 blocks per game. In the playoffs, the Pistons made it through the first two rounds and faced the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals . After the Pistons lost their first game, Wallace guaranteed a second game ("We will win Game 2"). He could keep his promise. The Pistons made it to the NBA Finals in which they were able to prevail after five games against the favorites, the Los Angeles Lakers, and win the NBA Championship. After the season, he bought counterfeit WWE World Heavyweight Championship belts for himself and his teammates and accepted a five-year contract extension valued at $ 57 million and changed his shirt number from 30 to 36.

Wallace in the Pistons jersey

The 2004/05 NBA season started well for the Pistons and they made it back to the playoffs. After eliminating the Pacers in the second round, the Pistons faced the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. After the Pistons fell behind, Wallace again guaranteed they would win and he was right. After seven games in which he hit an average of 50% of his throws and scored an average of 14.5 points, the Pistons prevailed. After the fifth game of the NBA Finals, Wallace was heavily criticized for leaving Robert Horry of the San Antonio Spurs for the game- winning three-point throw alone. After seven games, the Spurs could win the NBA championship. In the following season, the Pistons were able to record 64 victories. The team from Detroit was able to prevail in the first round after five games against the Milwaukee Bucks and in the second round after seven games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and their superstar LeBron James . In the Eastern Conference Finals they met again on the Miami Heat, but this time the team from Miami was able to prevail and subsequently win their first NBA championship.

In the following three seasons, Wallace's point average fell to 12 points per game and the Pistons made it into the playoffs regularly, but year after year they had to admit defeat earlier and earlier. Wallace was named an NBA All-Star in 2006 and 2008 . In 2008, the Pistons flew for the third year in a row in the Eastern Conference Finals from the playoffs, this time after six games against the Boston Celtics. After the final and decisive game, Wallace said it was over ("It's over, man."). Wallace switched back to his old jersey number 30 after the playoffs. At the beginning of the 2008/09 NBA season , Chauncey Billups was sent from the Pistons to the Denver Nuggets and the Pistons received reinforcements in the form of Allen Iverson , who, however, never quite changed could integrate into the team. After the season, Wallace and the Pistons decided to part ways in the future.

Boston Celtics (2009 to 2010)

On July 5, 2009, Rasheed Wallace moved to the Boston Celtics, where he signed a 3-year contract. After losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2010 NBA Finals, he finally ended his career after 15 years. On August 10, the contract between him and the Celtics was officially terminated.

New York Knicks (2012 to 2013)

During the 2011/2012 season there were already increasing rumors that Wallace would like to return to active sport. Over the summer of 2012, he worked with private coaches and got himself back in shape and completed the medical check at the New York Knicks . On October 3, 2012, he finally signed a contract with the Knicks. He was injured in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers on December 13, 2012 and had to sit out for two months. Wallace initially wanted to intervene in the game again in January 2013, but his comeback was delayed due to further injuries. In mid-April, Wallace was reinstated for the first time after his injury and played for two minutes. Two days later, Wallace surprisingly announced the end of his career again, as he could not get fit again due to the injuries and so the team could not be of any help with the upcoming playoffs.

Coaching career

After the end of his playing career, Wallace announced that he would like to work as a coach in the field of basketball. He then accepted an offer from the Detroit Pistons to work as an assistant coach for his former team . However, the engagement ended after only one season.

Wallace has been a coach at Charles E. Jordan High School in Durham , North Carolina since 2019 .

Individual evidence

  1. jrank.org: biography
  2. a b c d e nba.com: Player biography ( memento of the original from December 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nba.com
  3. a b c d nba.com: Career statistics ( memento of the original from May 17, 2013 on WebCite ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nba.com
  4. ^ NN: CBS Sports: Pistons fine without 'Sheed. , March 11, 2007
  5. Todd Boyd: Young, Black, Rich, and Famous. The Rise of the NBA, the Hip Hop Invasion, and the Transformation of American Culture. With a new introduction by the author. Lincoln / London 2008: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-1675-4 (page 182, in English).
  6. Sports Illustrated: Despite his latest screwup, many teams still covet Rasheed Wallace. ( Memento of October 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), January 29, 2003
  7. Ashley Branca: Ex-NBA ref Tim Donaghy: 'Organized crime will always have a hand in sports' (interview). In: The Guardian, May 22, 2015, quoted from The Guardian website, London; Retrieved June 19, 2017 (in English).
  8. Pat Jordan: After the Buzzer. In: New York Times Magazine, Jan. 9, 2011, quoted from New York Times website; Retrieved June 19, 2017 (in English).
  9. CBC Sports: Blazers trade Wallace to Hawks , February 11, 2004
  10. espn.com: Wallace lands in Detroit in three-team deal , February 20, 2004
  11. nba.com: Pistons Acquire Forward / Center Rasheed Wallace
  12. USA Today: Once again, Rasheed guarantees Game 2 victory , May 25, 2004
  13. NBA Finals 2004
  14. ABC Local: A 'Guaran-Sheed' Good Time  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 7, 2009@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / abclocal.go.com  
  15. USA Today: Rasheed Wallace signs five-year, $ 57M deal with Pistons , July 23, 2004
  16. [1]
  17. Knicks sign Rasheed Wallace ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / knicksnow.com
  18. ^ NY Times: The Latest on Rasheed Wallace.
  19. newsobserver.com: Rasheed Wallace is back, as a high school coach , accessed April 19, 2020

Web links

Commons : Rasheed Wallace  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files