Rasheed Wallace is one of the most loved players in NBA history. His passion and tenacity made him a fan favorite during his era. Sheed was a champion with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 and was selected to 4 All-Star teams. He is one of the better players to have played in the history of the league.
But while all this may be true, it’s safe to say that he was never considered one of the top players in his era. Certainly, nothing comparable to the standing Giannis Antetokounmpo has achieved, considered by many to be the best player in the world currently. Andre Iguodala had a wild claim to make, though. He recently suggested on The Dan Le Batard Show that in today’s era, Wallace would be better than the Greek Freak.
(starts at 12:48 minutes):
“Rasheed Wallace probably could have been top five player in the league for a 10-year stretch,” he said. “He just chose, ‘I’ll do my thing over here.’ He was shooting 3s from half court. No, he was shooting half-court shots left-handed and right-handed. If Rasheed Wallace played in modern-day basketball today, if he played in our league today, he’d be the top five player in the league. He’d be better than Giannis, and I love Giannis.”
Even if it may make sense to say that Rasheed Wallace would have been a top player in this era, saying he would have been better than Giannis is a stretch. Even though he may not care much for accolades himself, Giannis is a two-time MVP, a DPOY, a Finals MVP, and a 4-time selection to the All-NBA First Team. As great as he was, Wallace never achieved any of these accolades even once.
Players can have great insight into basketball and what goes into the game, but they are also affected by some of their own biases. It is no disrespect to Wallace to say that he isn’t on the level that Antetokounmpo has already achieved in the league. As for Iguodala, this take is likely not going to age well as the Greek Freak continues to go through his prime.
