Rasheed Wallace was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wallace attended the University of North Carolina. He led the team to the Final Four in 1995. He was picked 4th overall in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Washington Bullets. In his rookie year he played in 65 games. Unfortunately he fractured his thumb and could not return the following season. On July 15, 1996 he was traded with Mitchell Butler to the Portland TrailBlazers for Harvey Grant and Rod Strickland. In his first season with the Blazers, Wallace injured his same thumb but came back in time for the opening round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers. He averaged 19.8 points in the 4 games he played against the Lakers. His next season he would sign a long-term contract with the Blazers. In the 1998-99 season the Blazers would go on to the Western Conference Finals and lose to the San Antonio Spurs. During the 1999-2000 season he would set an NBA record for technical fouls. The next season he would break his own record with 40 technical fouls. During the 1999-2000 season the Blazers would again go on to the Western Conference Finals, this time against the Los Angeles Lakers. Wallace would average 17.9 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game in that year's playoffs. On February 9, 2004 Wallace was traded by the Blazers with Wesley Person to the Atlanta Hawks for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Dan Dickau, and Theo Ratliff. After playing one game with the Hawks, Wallace was traded to the Detroit Pistons as part of a three-team trade that also involved the Boston Celtics. After the 2003-04 regular season, the Pistons went on to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in 5 games in the NBA Finals. During the offseason he signed a five-year deal with the Pistons. In the 2004-05 season the Pistons would again go to the NBA Finals. They would lose to the San Antonio Spurs in 7 games. The next year the Pistons would go to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat. They would lose in 6 games. During the 2006-07 season Detroit would go on to the Eastern Conference Finals against the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. The Pistons lost in 6 games. The following season the Pistons would go to the Eastern Conference Finals again and lose to the Boston Celtics in 6 games. Following the season he signed a three-year contract with the Boston Celtics. Wallace was an All-Star for the 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2005-06, and 2007-08 seasons.
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