One Of My Favorite Basketball Players Ever: Rasheed Wallace

I don’t think there was anybody more entertaining to watch in the NBA than Rasheed Wallace . Originally selected by the then Washington Bullets (ironic, how Gilbert Arenas?) in 1995, the man fans know as “Sheed” has played for a plethora of teams. Sheed was instrumental in helping the Portland Trail Blazers in 1999 and 2000, and by 2001 he was a well know All-Star throughout the league. Other teams Sheed played for include the Atlanta Hawks (he played one game), the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks. For me, Sheed is best remembered for being a Piston, and beating the Lakers super team 4-1 back during the 03-04 season. Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace, man what memories. Sheed played with the Celtics until 2010, then retired for two years until the New York Knicks came calling.

Seeing an opportunity to play in New York City, Sheed decided to come out of retirement, and was a huge factor in the Knicks starting off the season 17-5 (for the 21 games he played). Sheed shocked many NBA fans by just how well he was playing for the Knicks after nearly two years out of the game. Coach Mike Woodson was playing Sheed an average of 14 minutes, and his solid defense, attacking the rim and even hitting some long threes made him an integral part of the team, and instantly a fan favorite at MSG. Things were looking good for Sheed, until he went on to miss most of the season though with a stress fracture in his left foot. Sheed was said to be feeling better, and could even be ready for the playoffs, which would be huge for the Knicks. Sheed played in only 4 minutes against the Bobcats on April 15th before leaving the game with a sore left foot, then he had to retire again.

Growing up, there was no better player in my opinion to watch than Sheed. I say this not just for his game, but the way he reacted to foul calls. Someone should have put one exclusive camera on him at all times, because he has some of the best, most hilarious reactions to foul calls I have ever seen. The man was pure entertainment, and a joy to watch. Sheed has the most technical fouls in NBA history with 304, so every time you tuned into a game he was playing in, you knew you had a good chance to see something hilarious go down. I mean come on, man got thrown out of a game for staring at a referee, literally!

I would have loved to watch Sheed with the Knicks come playoff time, but things didn’t work out, sadly. I wish Rasheed Wallace all the best in his retirement. Thank you for providing me with countless NBA memories, it was a joy to watch you this year when you did play!