More reasons to love RA!

Are there more than 100 reasons to love Rasheed Wallace? Well, of course. What was originally compiled as the list will forever remain as the "100 Reasons List", yet the love continues to grow. So please join us as we take a look at some more reasons to love Ra.

• This video.
  
  
• "I told him that he's going to get buried by Carolina, killed by Carolina, he better get used to losing bad. We're going to beat (them), and when we do, he can't duck me -- I don't care where he is. I am going to call his cell phone, fax him, write him, e-mail him, call his assistants, call his secretary at the basketball office, call his house phone, send him FedEx packages with a big NC logo and the final score on it. He's going to know he got whupped. So you go ahead and take that job. You're going from winning to losing. You'd be better off going to the University of Wyoming or something. But no, you're going right into the lion's den." -- Rasheed commenting on new NC State coach Sidney Lowe
  
  
• After a regular season game a reporter asked Rasheed what he thought about a trussle involving Argentinian Carlos Delfino and an opponent. Ra thoughtfully responded: "Carlos ain't no punk, they kidnap people where he's from."
  
  
• "I'm all right," Wallace said. "I'll be ready to go. Don't send me to the glue factory yet."
  
  
• Dec. 18, 2005: "The anti-Millen signs and chants have surfaced at home and away games of the other Detroit sports teams, as well as at University of Michigan and Michigan State basketball games.
  
  On Friday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills, Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace joined fans in the chant during a late timeout against the Chicago Bulls."
  
  
• This picture
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Undressing Udonis Haslem with serenades of "Don't leave me!" after dotting his eye with a 3-pointer in game 7 vs. the Heat
  
  
• ‘Scoop’ Jackson writes: “In the past 15 months since he was traded here, I think I've done four feature stories on him. All saying the same thing: that he's the most valuable player in the League. No one understood. Not even him.
  
  He stays leaned against the wall. Sony headphones in standard post-game position, covering his temples.
  
  ‘So, what's been up with you?’ he asks.
  
  ‘Tryna stay outta jail.’ I answer.
  
  ‘That ain't easy for a black man to do.’”
  
  
• "They love his edginess and see him as the ultimate compatriot, a two-time All-Star willingly sacrificing his own interests for the greater good and far from 'a blight on the organization,' as Wallace was once described by a team official in Portland. They love the way he yells, after an opponent's missed free throw, 'Ball don't lie.' They love the boxing-style championship belts he had made for his teammates, the funny nicknames he gives them. And they love it when he says of those doubting the Pistons' chances of repeating their title run, 'When it comes down to it, we'll smack 'em in the mouth with the trophy again.'" -- LA Times, 5/23/05
  
  
• On being booed in Philly: "That's how we are. I'm a Philadelphia fan, also. That's how we are."
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• On the zebras: "A lot of them cats are felonious, man."
  
  
• "I think he plays better when he's mad. I always say, 'Make him mad! Make him mad!' I love to see him get mad. When he gets mad, he just goes on a tear." — Antonio McDyess
  
  
• From the Detroit News: "To say that Rasheed Wallace is less than thrilled to be meeting President George W. Bush on Monday is an understatement. When asked about the Pistons' trip to the White House, Wallace said, 'I ain't going to say (nothing) to him. I didn't vote for him. I'm not excited at all, it's just part of the thing.' Said Chauncey Billups: 'He ain't lying, either. He won't say nothing to him.'"
  
  
• Handed out WWF-style championship belts, complete with individual nicknames on each, to teammates and staff to commemorate 04 NBA Championship. Said Rasheed: “(The rings are) vicious. Joe D.(Dumars) is ahead of us, he was teasing us with the rings. Hey, I’ve just got to try to get my three. The ring? I won’t wear it. Not necessarily because that it’s a championship ring and that it’s big as hell, I just don’t wear too much jewelry. It’s going to go in a box. But I’ll wear this (the belt). I’ll wear that for sure.”
  
  
• "I think it goes to show how Rasheed meshed with this team. We welcomed him with open arms, and he's been a pleasant surprise. He's a great player, but he's an even better teammate off the floor." - Darvin Ham
  
  
• On Ben Wallace: “Release the hounds! I can’t think of a better person to go side by side with than Ben. When I got here, he didn’t have no chip on his shoulder. He welcomed me with open arms, like, ‘Yo, let’s go."
  
  
• Sheed talking about being even more of a celebrity now that we won the championship..."It's K.I.M. You gotta keep it moving," Wallace said. "Because once you stop, you gonna get stuck."
  
  Best of the 04 Playoffs:
• "I'm not Jesus or nuthin."
  
  
• On Portland GM John Nash stating that Rasheed Wallace is more talented than Kenyon Martin, but Kenyon Martin is more tenacious: "I don't give a shit what John Nash thinks...You see where his thinking got him...You all got anything else?"
  
  
• RAW on Game 7 pressure: But don't think he's putting any additional pressure on himself to get the team over that hump. "Pressure?" he said, spitting the question back. "This isn't pressure and this is not pain. Afghanistan, Iraq and that other place, Croatia and Bosnia - now, that is pressure. This ain't nothing but a little hoops.
  
  
• On the peerless Larry Brown: "LB is cool. We have Carolina connections so we're connected in many other ways than just here."
  
  
• On the Lake Show: "Granted, they're a good team, but we ain't scared of nobody, I don't know why all you cats think we're scared of the Lakers, or that the Lakers are this dominant force. We ain't scared of those cats, man."
  
  
• "Some people say I'm mean and this and that. On one hand that's cool. That keeps away all the riffraff and all the bugaboos." -- R. Wallace
  
  
• "They were good before I got here. That's what I try to tell the local media and fans. They say to me, 'Thanks for coming to the Pistons. You made us better.' I say, 'Ain't no way in hell I made y'all better. Y'all were already one of the top-echelon teams in the East.' I'm still mystified by that one a little bit." -- R. Wallace
  
  
• Word.
  
  
• "Although they initially denied possessing, smoking, or having knowledge of Marijuana in the vehicle, Stoudamire, Wallace, and Smith were polite and respectful during the entire contact." -- Arrest report by Trooper Dorsey, 11/28/02
  
  
• Two-page spread in Scoop Jackson's Sole Provider: Thirty Years of NIKE Basketball highlighting how Ra been rocking the Air Force 1s for years -- long before it became the thing to do. Special note: includes the long-lost Rasheed-in-Carolina-warmup-jacket Nike ad.
  
  
• Appeared on an episode of MTV Cribs where it was learned that the bathroom next to the master suite includes a urinal.
  
  
• During a recent practice, coach Maurice Cheeks was talking with reporters when Wallace strolled past and had this exchange with Cheeks while continuing to walk toward the locker room:
  Wallace: "Say something!"
  Cheeks: "They're trying to get you to say something."
  Wallace: "They already know what I'm going to say. It's already etched in their reporters' manual."
  Cheeks: "What? 'Just ballin?' "
  Wallace: "No . . . Good game. Both teams played hard."
  
  
• Wallace made a statement with his shoes in the Blazers game Thursday, writing J.M.J. in silver on his black Nikes in tribute to rapper Jam Master Jay, one of the founders of Run-DMC, who was shot and killed Wednesday in a New York recording studio.
  
  
• "Every time he took a shot he said `Don't worry young fella, I get paid for this. I get paid for doing this to you'," - Kwame Brown
  
  
• Showed up at his first press conference in Portland with a t-shirt that read "F*ck What Ya Heard."
  
  
• Was dissed in an e-40 rap song. - Jeff S. Fenn
  
  
• Brian Grant getting interviewed by the Miami Herald's Dan Lebatard: The question was who has the most expensive and least expensive wardrobes in the NBA...Brian says "Alonzo Mourning has to have one of the most expensive. I've never seen him in the same suit. Rasheed Wallace has to have the least expensive. I've seen him at suit-and-tie functions in sweatsuits. That's just Rasheed. He never changes, and I mean that in a positive way."
  
  
• After unfairly being T'ed up in a game against the Warriors, Ra asserted his belief in karma during the post-game interview by saying, "Cheaters never win, that's all."
  
  
• Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2000, Blazers at Wizards. Rasheed was matched up against Juwan Howard. Rasheed had a fould called against him which sent Howard to the line. Surprisingly, Ra disagreed with the call. After Juwan missed the first free throw, Rasheed started clapping and yelling, "THAT BALL AIN'T GONNA LIE, THAT BALL AIN'T GONNA LIE!" - MR
  
  
• 'Can you get a good cheesesteak in Portland?'
  
  
• Ejected from playoff game after receiving one technical while on the bench and another without saying anything.
  
  
• Now owns the NBA record for most technical fouls in a season.
  
  
• "Rasheed was a joy to coach, and I was impressed by his knowledge of the game. If anything, he could be too unshelfish. -- Dean Smith
  
  
• "Wallace is a riddle wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a headband." -- L. Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated
  
  
• Did interviews at All-Star Saturday wearing a knit hat.
  
  
• Question to Damon Stoudamire: "Who`s the most fun guy to hang around with on the Blazers?"
  DS: "Probably Rasheed Wallace. That's who I'm with most of the time. Me, him, Bonzi Wells -- we hang out. But Rasheed is a character -- he keeps the atmosphere really loose in tense situations. He always has something to say."
  
  
• Jerry Sloan trying to 'Sprewell' Rasheed during the 1999 Playoffs.
  
  
• "I don't think Mike Dunleavy ever established a go-to guy. I think that guy has to be Rasheed Wallace. He's a star. This guy was just unstoppable inside and outside in the playoffs two years ago. The man is a mismatch just about anywhere you put him." -- Pete 'Gangsta' Vescey, 5/6/99
  
  
• "He [Rasheed] needs to get that nappy head trimmed down"
  -- Walt Williams
  
  
• Wore Timberland boots during a mid-season Blazer practice.
  
  
• During a 1999 preseason scrimmage open to the public, Ra played the game wearing sweatpants and vintage 1980s Nikes.
  
  
• Use of the Jerry-esque two-tone mouthpiece during 1998 playoffs. (Black and red on the road, red and white at home).
  
  
• Played with red headband in January 2000, evoking memories of the Cliff Robinson era in Portland.
  
  
• "...In college it was win, win, win. I don't like losing. I've never had to deal with losing. When I'm out there on the floor, I might yell or do this or that. I'm trying to get the win. My whole bottom line is getting that 'W.' I might be more vocal or more fierce than the next player, and I get labeled a knucklehead. That comes from people who don't know me, who just see me one night out of 365 days.
  
  
• Photo of him and his sons on the front of the USA Today sports page
  
  
• In the process of arguing with an NBA official, accidentally drooled on the man.
  
  
• In response to NBA fine for wearing his shorts too long, Rasheed wears his shorts extremely short in a nationally televisied affair. This look is combined with high "old school" socks. Think Maurice Lucas, circa 1978.
  
  
• Ra on his fine for wearing his shorts too long: "I like to wear big baggy clothes, and that's the way I like it when I am playing. We're the ones out there playing. They're up in some office. If we're comfortable with it, leave us alone ... They're just targeting a whole bunch of young guys."
  
  
• Spotted at the Durham Wal-Mart in the summer of '97, with dribble bib resting on right shoulder, kissing and coddling a baby no bigger than his pinky, while sitting on top of a checkout counter, wearing a non-descript No. 14 jersey and blue jeans. Yes, Grandma Jackie was in attendance, also.
  
  
• "Rasheed Wallace: it's been startling how well he has played -- and with control" -- NBC sleazeball Peter Vescey, 5/97
  
  
• "Rasheed Wallace has been well-behaved all season" --Peter John Carlesimo, 4/97
  
  
• Event: the 1995 Florida State-Carolina game at the Smith Center. The Circumstances: Dante went off, hitting roughly 42 three-pointers and UNC was destroying the 'Noles. The Moment: Dante hits his last three-pointer putting the Heels up by an insurmountable margin with a few minutes left. Ra comes down the court toward the baseline, looks to the bench, flashes the tired signal, and looks at Jerry. "Let's get the f&*@ out of here," said 'Sheed.

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