Person of Interest: Rasheed Wallace

In Detroit, Rashweed became ‘Sheed and displayed the unique talents that had been mostly hidden from the greater basketball public. His antics, which had once seemed menacing and petulant, took on a different tone with the team-first 2004 Pistons. Before Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pacers, he became Guaransheed. His relationship with the media began to change, in part, because outside of his rookie season with the Bullets, Detroit was the first town where Rasheed wasn’t the center of all discussions about sports and ethics. When the Pistons beat the Lakers in the Finals and all his teammates began talking about the Rasheed Wallace that most people didn’t know, his legacy was recast. Where he once was the hip-hop bogeyman who would eventually destroy the integrity of the game, he quickly became celebrated for his former demons.

This swing from leader of the Jail Blazers to the most beloved, almost cuddly personality in the league explains why most conversations among basketball nerds never get too far before they get to Rasheed Wallace. But while the rapid conversion can tell us a lot about how we process basketball differently than other sports, it doesn’t tell us a whole lot about Rasheed Wallace the basketball player. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the public’s understanding of Rasheed Wallace, regardless of whether he suits up again for an NBA game, will experience a third edit. In 20 or so years, when the memories of Rasheed’s personality start to fade and we’re left with his statistical record and what has been written about him in newspapers and major media outlets, how will the list makers of 2030 regard a player who averaged 14.6 points per game over his career?

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