Did former Tar Heel Rasheed Wallace get hit in the head with something recently?
Wallace was a great college player who was named first-team All-ACC in 1995 and averaged 16.6 points per game, but he was no Michael Jordan.
We all know MJ is the GOAT. The list of accolades he received could fill an entire book, but we’ll highlight that he was the 1982 NCAA Champion, the 1984 College Player of the Year, a 14-time NBA All-Star, and a perfect 6-time selection. 6th in the NBA Finals.
MJ is a prolific scorer, but not enough is discussed about how he was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team nine times.
Although Jordan was a great defender, Wallace didn’t seem to think so.
Rasheed Wallace: “Michael Jordan was not a great defender.”
MJ was named to the All-Defensive First Team 9 times, DPOY, led the league in steals 3 times, and blocked more shots than any other shooting guard.
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“Mike is not good at defense,” Wallace said in a recent interview. “I’ve seen this mother****** get his bust where he couldn’t stop the mother****** – against J.R. Rider, probably against Clyde Drexler, s ***Don’t forget about Joe Dumars in the early days. I’m not saying he didn’t defend, I’m just saying his defense wasn’t as high as most other cats at the time. “I can’t let him be All-Pro 10 or 11 times in a row First team defense. “
Everyone is entitled to their opinion — including Wallace. I don’t know if Jordan hurt Wallace’s feelings, but it’s unbelievable that Wallace said Jordan wasn’t a good defender.
By contrast, Wallace was not named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team. However, he is a prolific shot blocker, averaging over a block per game in 18 games.
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