• Rasheed Wallace once threatened to burn down a restaurant owned by a referee
• Wallace is the leader in all-time technical fouls received
• Wallace’s testy relationship with the referees led to a lot of problems for him
Rasheed Wallace is a former NBA Champion and one of the premier 3-and-D forwards of his time. Wallace was on track to be a star in the NBA but had a lot of public disagreements with referees that kept penalizing him and his teammates. This led to Wallace openly threatening a referee by telling him he’d burn his restaurant down if there were unfair calls.
“I told one ref, ‘Y’all keep talking sh*t, I’mma pay someone to burn your restaurant.’ I said, ‘Y’all keep f***ing me and my team, this was in Detroit, y’all keep f***ing me and my boys. I will hire a hacker to go into your email account’. The referee tried to give me that look. Oh, trust me, I knew about the email account y’all got from David Stern. Y’all take this sh*t for granted.”
Rasheed Wallace got stories for days, he found out an NBA ref owned a restaurant and told him if he kept making bad calls he’s gonna get somebody to burn his restaurant down and hack emails😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/dkJ6GTGs49
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) September 12, 2023
Wallace was incredibly talented. He averaged 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds for his career and found success based on his ability even when the referees didn’t favor him. He can’t earn the money he’s lost in fines due to referees over the years, but at least he can share these incredible stories with us about his playing days.
Rasheed Wallace Was A Misunderstood Star
Rasheed Wallace wasn’t among the best players in the NBA, but he was an incredibly respected figure. He didn’t need to be a 25-point scorer who’s leading a team to titles to be effective, as Wallace had a relatively modern skill set. He could move with or without the ball, stretch the floor, and defend like the entire game depended on it.
Acquiring him was what helped the Detroit Pistons go over the top in the 2003-04 season, as getting Wallace boosted their odds of winning the title that season. Wallace averaged 13.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks in the 2004 Playoffs and played an integral role in helping the Pistons end the reign of the Lakers and become NBA Champions.
It was a hard-fought title, with Wallace even claiming once that the Pistons celebrated their title while wearing the same jerseys that were covered in bloodstains, showing how much that win meant to him and his teammates.
Referees Getting More Power In 2023-24
Wallace crusaded against NBA referees for most of his career but will hope to see some modern players pick up the slack. Especially with new rules empowering the referees to hand out technical fouls for flopping violations. This could lead to referees unilaterally making calls that could severely impact the game.
There is a lack of trust between players and referees right now, especially after everything that happened with Eric Lewis, an open Boston Celtics fan who was refereeing for years until a sudden retirement this season. Biases exist among NBA referees and the new rules have given them more power to take it out on the players.
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