Rasheed Wallace is a former basketball player and current men’s basketball coach for the Memphis Tigers.
Wallace, a native of Philadelphia, played collegiate basketball at the University of North Carolina before declaring for the NBA draft in 1995, where he spent 16 seasons (NBA).
The player is admirably selfless. He may make more than half of his shots, but after collecting a pass, his first inclination is to sweep the floor for cutters.
Likewise, he is also known for his quick transformation from pleasant guy to hothead.
Interested to know more about Rasheed Wallace? Stay with us to the end of this article and you will be good to go! Before that, some quick facts!
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Rasheed Abdul Wallace |
| Birth Date | September 17, 1974 |
| Birth Place | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Nick Name | Sheed |
| Religion | Islam |
| Nationality | American |
| High School | Simon Gratz High School |
| College | North Carolina University |
| Playing Career | 1995–2010, 2012–2013 |
| Zodiac | Virgo |
| Chinese Zodiac | Tiger |
| Father’s Name | Sam Tabb |
| Mother’s Name | Jackie Wallace |
| Siblings | Two older brothers |
| Age | 47 years old |
| Height | 6 feet 11 inches |
| Weight | 104 kg |
| NBA Draft | Round: 1, Pick: 4th overall, 1995 |
| Shoots | Right |
| Food Habits | Non-vegetarian |
| Points | 16,006 (14.4 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 7,404 (6.7 rpg) |
| Blocks | 1,460 (1.3 bpg) |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Eye Color | Black |
| Career Highlights |
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| Build | Athletic |
| Marital Status | Divorced |
| Ex-Wife | Fatima Sanders |
| Girlfriend | Not known |
| Jersey Number | 30, 36 |
| Coaching Career | 2013 – present |
| Position | Assistant Coach |
| League | American Athletic Conference |
| Net Worth | $75 Million |
| Annual Salary | $6-7 million |
| Social Media | |
| Merch | Poster |
| Last Update | July 2022 |
Childhood and Education
Rasheed was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 17, 1974. Along with two other older siblings, the player was raised.
His mother, Jackie Wallace, was employed by Pennsylvania’s Department of Welfare. And during his boyhood, Sam Tabb, his father, who played street basketball, came and went from his son’s existence.
Rasheed resided in the Germantown section of North Philadelphia with his two older brothers, Malcolm and Muhammad. The player has been interested in basketball since a young age. He eventually decided to make a career out of it.
Rasheed has other hobbies besides basketball, such as painting. He attended the esteemed Simon Gratz High School, where he enrolled in an art class and amazed his teacher with his innate skill.
Wallace left the painting class after two years in order to focus on basketball, though.
After High School
After his senior season, Rasheed was selected as the High School Player of the Year by USA Today and a first-team All-American by Basketball Times.
Rasheed was also chosen for the first team of the Parade All-Americans twice. The player’s final year saw him play just 19 minutes per game, but he still managed to average 16 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 blocks.
Career in College
Wallace was persuaded to enroll in college in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, by Dean Smith, a coach at the University of North Carolina.
Wallace and Wallace’s eventual Detroit coach, Larry Brown, looked up to Smith as a mentor. Rasheed claims that Brown’s familiarity with him in North Carolina facilitated his quick integration into the Pistons organization.
Over the course of his two years at North Carolina, the player became a national success story. When he was a sophomore at UNC, the Associated Press named him to the second team of All-Americans.
In 1995, Rasheed and Jerry Stackhouse—later to become a star in the NBA—aided the Tar Heels in reaching the NCAA Final Four.
The player left North Carolina after his second season to enter the 1995 NBA draft. He was selected by the Washington Bullets with the fourth overall pick.
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Career in Professional Basketball
As a rookie in 1995, Rasheed started 51 of the 65 games for the Washington Bullets in lieu of the injured Chris Webber. He was selected for the rookie team during All-Star Weekend.
At the end of the season, the player was dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers along with Mitchell Butler for Rod Strickland and Harvey Grant.
On February 9, 2004, Rasheed was traded to the Atlanta Hawks along with Wesley Person for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Theo Ratliff, and Dan Dickau after spending eight seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Wallace scored 20 points in the opening three quarters of the Hawks’ lone game in which he played.
The player then transferred to the Detroit Pistons. On February 23, 2004, he contributed 10 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks as the Pistons defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 76-66.
Wallace and the Boston Celtics agreed to a three-year contract on July 8, 2009. In 2010, the Boston Celtics made it to the NBA Finals. But the Los Angeles Lakers defeated them in four games.
Retirement
On June 25, 2010, Wallace’s agent, Bill Strickland, said Wallace would probably leave the NBA. After the Celtics bought out his contract on August 10, the choice was officially announced.
Rasheed later penned a contract with the New York Knicks on October 3, 2012. He reported that he had a fractured left foot and would be out for eight weeks on February 27, 2013. He was scheduled for surgery.
On April 15, 2013, Rasheed came back for one more game and played three minutes off the bench. On April 17, 2013, the athlete declared his second retirement after a brief return.
Punishments and Suspension
The player with the most technical fouls in a season is known as Wallace. During the 2000–01 season, the player received 41 technical fouls in 80 games. Every two games, on average, a technical foul is committed.
The athlete was also given a seven-game suspension by the NBA in 2003 for arguing with then-referee Tim Donaghy during a home game on a loading dock at the arena.
That was the league’s longest suspension for a non-violent or substance-related incident.
Prison Blazers
Rasheed was not the only player on the Portland Trail Blazers at the time who was thought to be disruptive.
For instance, the media and fans constantly attacked his colleagues Bonzi Wells, Damon Stoudamire, and Zach Randolph for their off-court outbursts and legal situations.
The team was hence frequently referred to as The Jail Blazers.
Rasheed Wallace: Awards
- 2004 NBA champion
- 4× NBA All-Star (2000, 2001, 2006, 2008)
- 1996 NBA All-Rookie Second Team
- 1995 Consensus second-team All-American
- 1995 First-team All-ACC
- 1994 ACC All-Freshman team
- No. 30 honored by North Carolina Tar Heels
- 1993 Mr. Basketball USA
- 1993 USA Today’s High School Player of the Year
- 2× First-team Parade All-American (1993, 1992)
- 1993 McDonald’s All-American
Marriage, Rasheed Wallace
In 2009, the participant wed Fatima Sanders. Rashaya Wallace and Nazir Wallace are the couple’s two children. Additionally, each of them had a child from a prior relationship.
Courtroom Battle
When Rasheed left his wife and retired from the New York Knicks in 2013, the couple’s legal dispute started.
While Sanders and the couple’s two children returned to their Rochester Hills home, where they had lived for more than ten years, he moved to North Carolina to play collegiately at the University of North Carolina.
Rasheed filed for divorce in North Carolina at the beginning of July 2014. Three weeks later, Sanders submitted her own divorce application to Oakland County.
Additionally, she made an attempt to invalidate the couple’s prenuptial agreement from 1998, which they signed on the day of their wedding and claimed was “fabricated.”
She also contested Wallace’s divorce petition in North Carolina, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction. Wallace rented an apartment in Troy, and Sanders wondered if he was really a North Carolina resident.
Additionally, the footballer did not pay his ex-wife for six months after filing two separate divorce papers, according to Sander’s attorney.
Prior Partnership
In addition to that, Rasheed also has a son from a prior union with Chiquita Bryant named Ishmiel Wallace.
Ishmiel was granted to Rasheed by the court in June 1997, but Chiquita Bryant hid Ishmiel and refused to give him up.
The footballer used his notoriety to track down his kid after Rasheed’s lawyer and a private investigator failed to locate Bryant.
He recorded an interview with TNT on December 13, 1997, during which he discussed his predicament and the challenges of playing basketball without Ishmiel.
Less than a week later, a viewer in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, who recognized Chiquita called authorities and made an anonymous report.
As a result, at 12:02 a.m. on Christmas morning, father and son were reunited. It was the player’s nicest Christmas present ever, he shouted.
Career in Coaching
In July 2013, Rasheed joined the Detroit Pistons as an assistant coach after agreeing to a two-year contract. He was employed with the Pistons in 2013–2014.
On March 8, 2019, the player was unveiled as Charles E. Jordan High School in Durham, North Carolina’s upcoming head coach of the boys varsity basketball team.
Rasheed further consented to start working as Penny Hardaway’s assistant coach in Memphis on August 18, 2021.
He also reunited with his former head coach, Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, with the Tigers in Detroit. Wallace would work remotely for the balance of the season, it was disclosed on January 13, 2022, rather than serving in person.
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Interesting Facts about Rasheed Wallace
- Rasheed has several tattoos on his upper body (sun, the royal family of Egyptians, and more).
- Wallace has elegant automobile collections like Hummer H1, high-end Maybach 57, Mercedes S-Class, and a 1996 Ford Bronco.
- Rasheed also has a magnificent 10,568 square foot property in Rochester Hills, Michigan, worth roughly $3.7 million.
- The player is a Virgo and follows the Islamic religion.
- During the 2008 playoffs, Wallace went on an expletive-laced diatribe criticizing the refereeing after Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics.
- The player popularized the term “Ball don’t lie,” which is used when an opponent player misses a free shot following a contested call by the officials.
- During the 2010 NBA Playoffs, Rasheed wore caps and other pieces of apparel with the Philadelphia Flyers logo during news conferences and interviews with the Boston Celtics, which sparked outrage among Boston supporters.
Charity
Rasheed has been a major voice and helping hand in the Flint water problem. Since the summer of 2016, he has personally brought water door to door in Flint.
The player has also published a letter in the Players Tribune to promote awareness. Further, he also spoke about the Crisis on the television show Area 21.
Wallace’s actions encouraged celebrities like Stephen Jackson, Rachel Nichols, Kyle Kuzma, and others to volunteer in Flint.
Besides that, in 1997, the player founded the Rasheed Wallace Foundation to support people in Portland, Philadelphia, and Durham, North Carolina.
The Foundation organized yearly coat drives and food drives, as well as funding for inner-city schools and recreation facilities in the three cities.
Wallace also funded teams that needed help getting to basketball competitions. He sponsored yearly basketball camps in Philadelphia and Durham for kids who wanted to be professional basketball players.
Rasheed Wallace: Net Worth
Wallace’s net worth is $75 million resulting from his successful NBA career and endorsement deals.
The player earned a massive sum of around $156 million in salary throughout his incredible 18-year NBA career.
He received a minimum salary of $1.7 million while playing with the New York Knicks. Additionally, Wallace’s yearly salary from the Blazers was roughly $17 million in 2003-04.
Rasheed also earned a record $60 million while playing for the Detroit Pistons. Further, he earned roughly $12 million during his brief time with the Celtics.
Currently, the former NBA player works as an assistant coach with the Memphis Tigers and earns roughly $6-7 million each year.
Social Media
- Instagram: iam_sheeeeeed
FAQs
Which teams does Rasheed Wallace root for?
Rasheed supports the Philadelphia Flyers (NHL) and Phillies (MLB). However, he does not root for the Philadelphia Eagles (NFL). Instead, the player is a die-hard Kansas City Chiefs supporter.
How much does Rasheed Wallace weigh?
The 47-year-old player is of athletic build and weighs around 104 kg. Likewise, the athlete is 6 feet 11 inches tall.
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