Scottie Pippen details what made Rasheed Wallace the Kevin Durant of his day
Pippen details what made Rasheed similar to both Kevin Durant and Dennis Rodman in a way
Scottie Pippen believes Rasheed Wallace had the same skillset as Kevin Durant and that he is the first big man that frequently used the three-point shot.
Rasheed had Kevin Durant type skillset
In his new book, "Unguarded," Scottie details numerous things from his HOF career, with several provoking comments about his time with the Chicago Bulls and everything happening behind closed doors within the organization. He also touched upon his time with the Houston Rockets and how that was a complete waste of time and a missed opportunity because his role was diminished entirely and served no purpose behind Hakeem and Barkley.
However, his time with the Portland TrailBlazers was a completely different experience with much greater success, and that squad had a lot of talent, with Scottie providing a much-needed championship experience. The best player on that squad was Rasheed Wallace, a fierce and competitive big man who was, in many ways, according to Pippen ahead of his time.
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"Rasheed was the Kevin Durant of his day, able to get off a high-percentage shot anytime he wanted, with his left or right hand. He was one of the first bigs to run to the three-point line. He could make it from Steph Curry range."
Problems with the referees
When you look back at the NBA during that time period, the league had several great big men, and Rasheed was one of them. However, Rasheed had a temper and couldn't quite handle his relationship with the referees, and he was constantly picking up technical fouls. He is 3rd all-time in technical fouls but an all-time leader in ejections with 29 in total. In the book, Pippen details how in that sense, Rasheed was worse even than Dennis Rodman, his former teammate who also frequently didn't get along with the referees, and his behavior was described as problematic.
"Most disappointing was Rasheed Wallace, who was ejected in the third quarter when he received a second technical. Rasheed was our best player, by far. His one fault, and it was a big one, was he couldn't control his anger. He made Dennis Rodman look like a Boy Scout. During the regular season, Rasheed committed 38 technicals, the most in the league. He assured me it wouldn't be a problem in the playoffs. He was wrong. I didn't realize his trouble with the refs went back a ways, and once you have a bad reputation, it follows you the rest of your career. You can forget about getting the benefit of a doubt on any close calls."
The Blazers missed out on a massive opportunity in 2000 to beat the Lakers in seven games and make their way to the NBA Finals against the Pacers. Pippen, among all the other players, wanted that championship more than anything to prove that he could do it without Jordan, but in that crucial game 7, the Lakers made an unbelievable comeback and sealed a win, winning a championship later on against the Pacers.
As Pippen said, Rasheed is one of those players who, despite having all the tools to be incredibly dominant, too often got caught up arguing with the referees, which made things hard on him and his team. Luckily he finally won a championship with the Detroit Pistons in 2004, being a crucial part of that squad that was on the top of the eastern conference for several years in a row.
