Rasheed Wallace: What Could Have Been

Rasheed Wallace is a player with one of the best all around skill sets in the NBA. He has the ability to post up and is considered one of the best post players in the NBA. He has the ability to stretch the floor with a reliable three point shot. His mid-range jump shot can be deadly from anywhere on the floor, especially when utilized as the patented turn around jumper off the glass that 'Sheed employs to near perfection. He is a ferocious blocker and a decent rebounder and in his prime was considered one of the more athletic players in the NBA.

With a skill set like that, it is hard to believe that Rasheed boasts only modest career averages of fifteen points, seven rebounds, two assists, and one block. Rasheed's best statistical season was with the Blazers in his prime, an impressive yet not mind blowing stat line of nineteen points and eight rebounds. Rasheed, with the ability to get twenty and ten easy has never averaged that amount in his career. This leads one to ponder: did Rasheed Wallace really really realize his potential?

In the twilight years of his career, has Rasheed played to the best of his abilities? I believe the following two points are the reasons that Rasheed has never become one of the best players in the NBA like his abilities demanded he be.

1. Emotions

Many of the elite players, though not all (see Tim Duncan), are very intense, emotional players. Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson, and Kobe Bryant are three players who have one or the other. Kevin Garnett is as intense as it comes and a very 'outspoken' player while AI and Bryant are very intense and have two of the most killer instincts in the NBA.

Rasheed Wallace may be even more emotional and intense than Kevin Garnett. The reason Rasheed has not been able harness these two powerful attributes is because he expresses them in the wrong way. How many times have we seen Rasheed get into a hot streak and then hurt his own team by drawing a technical foul? For many seasons, Rasheed has lead the league in technical fouls. In high school, he was the first player to have been ejected from the McDonald's All-Star game.

Though his emotions and intensity are harnessed the wrong way, there have been cases where he has spurred his team to victory and gained the motivational props that follow. Sometimes Rasheed's technicals fire his team up and lead to a trouncing of the opposition. When the Pistons won a championship, Rasheed further motivated his team to reach Game 7 of the Finals the next season by giving the team a championship mindset (ex. purchasing world heavyweight championship belts for every member of the team.).

Yes, Rasheed is as an emotional and intense player, and has helped the teams he played for greatly, but he has never been able to take the next step and go from an All-Star to a superstar.

2. Work Ethic/Killer Instinct

Many times during Rasheed's career, announcers, sports analysts, and critics questioned 'Sheed's drive and work ethic. Some labeled him overrated and more of a troublemaker than a star in the league. Less so during his Blazer years but more so during his Piston years, Rasheed was known to be arrogant and coast through games against teams he felt were no where near as talented as the Pistons, with dire results(see 2006/2007 Eastern Conference Finals).

Charles Barkley has famously stated that if Rasheed had the killer instinct like players such as Kobe and Michael Jordan, Rasheed could have been one of the best players in NBA history.

Rasheed is, bar-none, the most versatile offensive player in the Eastern Conference, if not the entire league. An elite post player who's also an above average perimeter player combined with a hard-to-match defensive tenacity? It's hard to imagine that type of player to not be in the top ten players in league history. Michael Jordan had a similar skill set (ultimate scorer, great defender, money jump shot, elite post up game); Magic Johnson had a similar skill set; it's hard to imagine Rasheed, when his career is over, not to have him mentioned in the same breath as these great players.

Well imagine no longer. Rasheed will never be mentioned in the same breath as MJx2. Rasheed may go down in history as the biggest underachiever the league has ever seen, even if he's won a championship ring.

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