Feuds in the NBA are not an uncommon thing. However, it is one thing to have a problem with an athlete, but having an issue with the commissioner of the league is extremely rare. Rasheed Wallace is one of those individuals who have had a very public beef with the ex-NBA commissioner, David Stern.

On a recent episode of Gil’s Arena, the 2004 NBA champion unveiled what started the feud between him and Stern. He also detailed how that situation was handled and who was there to support him, despite Stern’s firm opinion against him.

Rasheed Wallace talks about his 20-year-old feud

The NBA veteran was on the Gil’s Arena podcast recently where he was asked about his 2003 feud with the then NBA commissioner David Stern. At the time, he was with the Portland Trail Blazers and, surprisingly, the phonetics of the team’s name had a big part to play in their beef.

Wallace said that his statement in ’03, “Both teams played hard. God bless and good night”, ruffled some feathers in the league. He said that he was being reprimanded by Stern for that statement. The NBA champion recalled asking, “What do you want me to say? Have your secretary write up a dictation on what you want me to say”.

After that, Stern made it clear to the Blazers that if they don’t “tear up his contract, it’s going to be bad” for them in the next few NBA drafts. However, despite such strong words from the commissioner, the Blazers stood behind their athlete, risking their chances for a good pick in the next few drafts. Wallace said that he couldn’t believe what was happening and that in his opinion, he was being treated unfairly. He also said that unfair reporting played a major role in his image being tarnished in the league at the time.

However, his team and the management stood with him at the time.

The Portland Trail Blazers saga

Wallace said that there were a lot of negative reports being published with his name on it. The Blazers were even called the “Jail Blazers” which was also unfair as per Wallace. He said, “Aint nobody on our squad go to jail“ and that there were no police or legal issues that the Blazers were going through.

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Despite that, they were painted a certain way, which was posing a threat to the reputation of the league. As per Wallace, a few speeding and parking tickets were all they had on their names. Now, if that’s the whole truth in the matter, it does sound unfair that they were called “Jail Blazers” at the time.

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