When the Detroit Pistons traded for Rasheed Wallace three years ago, I questioned the move. Here was a man who made himself an outcast in his time for the Portland Trail Blazers. He was Mr. Technical Foul, and anything he did was counter-productive for the team.
I can't say he's done a complete reversal in his stint in Detroit, but he's worked hard to fit into the Piston mentality and has tried to be less of a distraction for his team.
The NBA refined their techincal foul penalty rule before last season, saying any foul over a season total of 15 warrants an automatic one-game suspension. Wallace hit that total last night and will likely be suspended for the Pistons' game on Sunday. But the technical he received in Denver the other night was due to him saying "ball don't lie"? Is there an obscenity in that statement that I'm not aware of? If I say that to someone, will I have a bar of soap headed for my mouth?
Absolutely not. That so-called technical was ridiculous. The NBA changed their rule specifically with Wallace in mind. Be aware: in the so-called "thuggish" life in the NBA, what he's done is tame compared to the past... and very tame compared to what "stars" like Kobe Bryant are doing.
Bryant received a one-game suspension for drilling a defender with an elbow while releasing a shot. He served the suspension, then came back tonight to score 30 points for the Lakers, while drilling Philadelphia defender Kyle Korver with another elbow in the process.
If this has always been a shooting flaw in Bryant's game, throwing elbows all over the place, then why did it start just this year? Why are the elbows obvious now? Aren't incidents like these the ones that justify the punishment? How can you punish someone for trash-talk and turn the head the other way for someone who deliberately tries to injure people or send a physical message?
I only recently started watching basketball on television again because of boredom around the house. I watch it grudgingly because I don't like the environment the NBA promotes: too much hip-hop in my opinion. Silly technical fouls and severe oversight of the obvious make my past unwillingness to watch basketball justified.
In attempting to "take over" the NBA mentality with dress code orders and such, Commissioner David Stern has let the mentality take over him even more. I get more pleasure watching a group of young kids in a recreation league do their best and show the best sportsmanship. On Tuesday's trip with Dawn, I saw one of these games, and I knew that the young kids have it right.
Life before agents, attitudes, and reputations beyond one's skills. That's how you play the game!
