Rasheed Wallace On “7PM In Brooklyn”

Rasheed Wallace speaks on today’s NBA, the 2003 Draft, and the “Jail Blazers” with “7PM in Brooklyn”

Today, we share the latest episode of 7PM in Brooklyn, a Wave Original hosted by NBA legend Carmelo Anthony and Kazeem Famuyide.

In the latest episode, NBA champion and 4x NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace joins Carmelo Anthony for a rare and candid interview about his career, the evolution of the NBA, and some of the moments that shaped one of basketball’s most memorable eras.

Rasheed discusses his decision to attend UNC, how his game would translate to today’s NBA, and the toughest matchups of his career against stars including Tim Duncan. Melo and Rasheed also revisit the Pistons’ decision to pass on Melo in the 2003 NBA Draft, why you can’t compare Victor Wembanyama to Shaquille O’Neal, the mindset behind Detroit’s 2004 championship run, and the lasting legacy of the “Jail Blazers” era in Portland.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• [07:43] RASHEED WALLACE RECALLS THE MOMENT DEAN SMITH CONVINCED HIM TO ATTEND NORTH CAROLINA

Rasheed: “Who’s sitting in the living room? It’s my mom, it’s Coach Smith and Phil Ford. Now mind you, I say a good 14 and 16 hours ago they had just won a Natty. Coach Smith was like, ‘hey, we celebrated last night… It’s back to business. The grind doesn’t stop.’ When coach came, that really showed me like, damn, they really want me down there.”

• [22:41] RASHEED WALLACE DISCUSSES HOW HIS GAME WOULD TRANSLATE TO TODAY’S NBA

Rasheed: “Well, it would be crazy because now it’s a totally different game… So I think if I put myself in today’s game and it ain’t no real touching… oh yeah, I’d light their ass up.”

Carmelo: “[Your] mentality in today’s game would be too much… I can shoot 10 threes if I’m him today… and go down on the block… That’s a different type of basketball player.”

Rasheed: “I think the biggest impact that I would have though… would be on the defensive side.”

• [31:39] RASHEED WALLACE NAMES THE TOUGHEST MATCHUPS OF HIS NBA CAREER

Rasheed: “Had to get my sleep before I played C Webb. Antonio McDyess… he could shoot. Dice was just as fast as I was, jumped just as high and had just as high of an IQ. Big fundamental. Tim Duncan… I always liked going up against Tim… Even though he wasn’t athletic per se, he still had the fundamentals and everything For sure, ticket… that was my mirror image. J50… playing against him… that was always some good matchups that me and Jermaine had.”

• [39:34] RASHEED WALLACE AND CARMELO ANTHONY REVISIT THE PISTONS’ DECISION TO PASS ON MELO IN THE 2003 NBA DRAFT

Rasheed: “Detroit felt as though they didn’t need Melo because they had Tayshawn on the wing. Melo was a wing player. Tayshawn was more defensive for that team.”

Carmelo: “My only issue with that time was [The Pistons] guaranteed me… they did. Guaranteed we’re taking you at two.”

• [48:53] RASHEED WALLACE EXPLAINS WHY HE CAN’T COMPARE VICTOR WEMBANYAMA TO SHAQUILLE O’NEAL

Rasheed: “At that time [Shaq] was the best athlete on the planet. 7’2, 340 pounds, agile. He’s a f***ng nightmare. The refs helped us out though… They really let us f*** Shaq up. That’s why Shaq got mad with a lot of that sh**.”

Monica: “Now, Young Shaq, he is the name that people bring up mostly when they talk about Victor now in terms of a guy that fundamentally changed how you have to defend how you got to hoop. Having had your experience, do you think that that’s appropriate?

Rasheed: “No. Wemby is a great player, but the difference is the body weight. Shaq was outweighing guys by at least 80 pounds… He was the best athlete in the world at the time in his prime.”

• [56:59] RASHEED WALLACE REVEALS THE MINDSET THAT LED THE 2004 PISTONS TO AN NBA TITLE

Rasheed: “I don’t care if I get two shots tonight. As long as we get this dub dog. During that postseason, we knew it was special. We all like, ‘Y’all know we can’t go back to L.A., right? We knew what was at stake.”

• [01:01:41] RASHEED WALLACE REFLECTS ON THE LEGACY OF THE “JAIL BLAZERS” AND HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH PORTLAND

Rasheed: “They don’t mention or want to give us the prop about being in the community a lot. We were just out there doing it for the community. The only thing I didn’t like about it in the documentary… it made it seem like… I still said, ‘F*** the city of Portland. To this day, I don’t have no problem with the city of Portland myself. I always had a great time out there.”