True to Himself
“Ball Don’t Lie.” “Both Teams Played Hard.” CTC—“Cut the Check.” When reflecting on Sheed’s legacy, his talent often goes underappreciated as on and off-court antics often stole the spotlight.
While he has a mostly favorable place in Rip City’s heart, many of his actions made fans question his devotion to the team. Obviously, incidents such as the Sabonis towel incident deserve criticism. Still, they should all be looked at with nuance and to understand one of the Blazer’s most fascinating individuals. Sure, Rasheed had his issues in Portland but never once demanded a trade in his seven and half seasons with the Blazers. His problems with officials, coaches, and players never seemed to stem from anything other than being true to himself. He avoided the media whenever possible, and when they did reach him, he gave them as little as he could. He racked up a record 371 technical fouls in his career, earning most of them for no other reason than extensively disagreeing with fouls called against him.
Off the court, Rasheed “Roscoe” Wallace was as big of a personality as he was on it. Between his sneakerhead status, community coat drives, questionable drives home from Seattle, and an incredible second career as a media personality, Rasheed is Rasheed. While his 2013 retirement occurred long after the invention of social media, it’s hard not to imagine what kind of complementary and critical online responses he would have evoked during his time in Portland.
Even if people had problems with some of his more counterproductive on-court actions, it’s hard to judge the authenticity it came from. There’s a reason you can still catch him on the court talking trash post-retirement. There’s a reason he currently serves as a high school coach and not in the NBA, where many opportunities may have awaited. It’s because no one, not Mike Dunleavy, not Tim Donaghy, or anyone else for that matter, dictates Wallace’s life but himself.
By now, any bad taste his departure from Portland left seems long gone. A beloved figure around the league, Blazer fans would be fools to show nothing but love to one of the most talented players in franchise history. Happy Birthday, Rasheed!