Rasheed Wallace, Future NBA Coach?

Sheed said he loved retirement. But he returned to the NBA. Rasheed shrugs off mentions of him coaching in the League. But his friends told Yahoo! that he wants it to happen: “The idea of Wallace as a coach has been discussed before – there’s even a ‘Coach Sheed Movement’ – but it was quickly met with jokes about him getting tossed out of every game 30 seconds after the end of the national anthem. Yet this version of Sheed seems different. There have only been a handful of games, but they’ve passed without an outburst or flare-up. (At least until Friday night’s technical foul.) ‘He’s more calm now,’ says Donaldson. ‘Stepping away has helped him a lot.’ Wallace says he isn’t thinking about his future. He shrugs off the idea of coaching. ‘Just playing,’ he insists. But he’s clearly not ‘just playing.’ He’s helping younger players develop their games, which is something that comes naturally for him whether in the NBA or during summer pick-up games at his old Philly high school, Simon Gratz. The media always notice his screaming at refs, but most of his talk is instructive and directed at teammates. Asked if he notices how fans are treating him now, he says, ‘I’m just zoning in on basketball.’ ‘You can’t believe everything you hear about Rasheed,’ says Tarik Wallace. ‘It’s simple: He’s about his coach and his teammates. That’s all that matters.’ That does explain a lot. Say what you want about Sheed’s past behavior, he’s always had respect in the locker room. He’s always deferred to others rather than hogging the ball or the limelight. (Once, while with the Pistons, he refused to come out for introductions prior to Game 1 of the NBA Finals.) In fact, the biggest on-court criticism about Wallace is his reluctance to go into the post.”