Rasheed Wallace throws Ubuntu champion Celtics under the bus for losing 2010 title
In this recent interview, Boston Celtics 2009-2010 sixth man Rasheed Wallace laments losing that 2010 NBA title to the Los Angeles Lakers in seven games. Most of the blame he puts on head coach Doc Rivers who he refers to as a "cocksucker" in the interview.
"We came up on the short end in my opinion because of some personal shits."
Wallace claims he was told when he signed that he would back up Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins, but that didn't happen. That's a bizarre claim, because he did in fact back up KG and Perk that season, playing more minutes than anyone besides the 5 starters.
Rasheed was also mad at Doc for telling him to not shoot so many 3's and instead get in the paint, where to be honest Wallace was extremely talented. Wallace shot an atrocious 28% on 3-pointers that season, yet was still second on the team to Ray Allen in 3-point attempts.
Wallace averaged more 3-point attempts per minute than Ray Allen for that season. Let that sink in. So who can blame Doc for wanting the big man they signed to play more like a big and less like a poor shooting guard.Wallace claims he kept it "professional" for the sake of his teammates despite his displeasure with Rivers, but listening to the full interview it definitely seems he started chucking 3's when he was out on the court in protest to not being featured more.
What's weird is he wanted to be featured more, but didn't like Doc wanting him to play down low where he was actually talented and could be featured. And he's mad at Doc for not letting him just shoot 3's even though, as mentioned above, he took more attempts than anyone on the team save for Ray (and more than Ray per minutes played).
As for the personal beefs between the four stars Garnett, Allen, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo, he doesn't clear anyone's name when pressed further. We all know about the Allen vs Rondo stuff, but was there more? Not sure if 'Sheed's memory is the best way to find out.
Listening to this interview, I'm even more convinced that Wallace let his body go that season (and appears now that it was potentially as a protest to Doc and his role) and when the team needed him to step up in Games 6 and 7 of the NBA Finals due to the Perkins' injury, though he did give a valiant effort in those games, his poor conditioning led to him running out of gas and the team's failure.Wallace ran out of gas in 2nd half of Game 7 and the Celtics lost their lead, the game, and that championship.
So no I don't think Wallace kept things "professional" that season for his teammates. Just like he didn't have a clear head on his shoulders when exploding at refs in his career, his idea of what his role should have been that season was unclear in his mind. To win a championship, you need your core players ALL giving their all. 'Sheed let himself go and wasn't prepared when his number was called to play a larger role.
We see video after video and quote after quote of bench players (and coaches talking referring to them) saying they keep themselves always ready for when they get their opportunities. Wallace didn't do that.
Here's Bill Simmons' take from 2010:
"Sheed roped the Celtics into giving him an $18.9 million, three-year deal, made a big stink about breaking MJ's 72-win record and then showed up for training camp wearing a fat suit.
Sheed caused my 62-year-old father to send me the following text recently: "Wallace can't rebound, blocks nobody out, gets outhustled on every rebound and plays matador defense. What an awful Celtic!!!!"
Sheed caused me to respond, "You forgot about all the 3s he misses."
Sheed is so out of shape that Reggie Miller started a sentence during the Cavs-Celtics game on TNT last month with "When Rasheed Wallace gets into game shape …"
Sheed has been healthy since the first day of training camp.
Sheed likes jogging at half-speed. He submits entire sequences -- two or three minutes at a time, six or seven trips up and down the court -- without ever passing either foul line. Sometimes I count to see how many consecutive possessions Sheed can pull off without crossing either charity stripe. His unofficial record is nine."
Of course effort goes beyond just keeping in shape, Wallace didn't put in the effort on rebounding either.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Sheed has the lowest career per-48-minute rebounding average of anyone 6-foot-11 or taller who played 1,000-plus games.
And while Doc Rivers was far from a perfect head coach, he's the only Celtics coach to lead this city to a championship in now a whopping thirty-eight years. And besides the 2008 title, 2010 remains the closest we've gotten to another. You can blame Doc for his failures, but it's hypocritical to not give him his flowers for his success.
In my opinion, even with Perkins' injury, had Wallace listened to Doc and shot less 3's and played more in the post, instead of letting his body go, the Celtics win that championship. We needed 4 quarters out of Wallace in that Game 7. His conditioning didn't allow that. The Celtics lost by just 4 points. I see that as the difference.
So yes, I give Wallace credit for leaving all he had on the floor in Game 7. If the Celtics won he would have been treated like a Dave Roberts hero in Boston for the rest of his life. And if he was in shape, Boston would have won.
Doc, Pierce, KG, Rondo, and Ray all won a title in 2008 in Boston, and all four of the players were in shape for their entire careers. Doc didn't half ass his effort coaching either. And for his shortcomings, he was always completely willing to add an experienced assistant coach to assist him.I don't hate Wallace or anything, but I was disappointed in his effort and professionalism his lone season as a Celtic and am also disappointed in his revisionist history now which includes throwing Boston champions under the bus. He could have been remembered like Bill Walton was for 1986 or Jame Posey for 2008. Instead he's simply misrembering now.