Very few players in the history of the NBA have been in more on-court confrontations than Draymond Green, and former All-Star Rasheed Wallace believes the 2003-2004 Detroit Pistons are largely responsible for that.
Wallace spoke about his relationship with Green during a recent appearance on the “Gil’s Arena” show with former NBA star Gilbert Arenas. When discussing all the technical fouls and ejections Green has piled up in his career, Wallace said Green learned from the 2003-2004 Pistons. Wallace said Green used to hang around the locker room with that team (which won an NBA title) because Green was friends with the son of Detroit’s general manager.
“He grew up in our locker room. One of his best friends was the son of the GM, so he was around us (at) practice, in the locker room after games and before games,” Wallace said. “He heard the different language, and we all know it’s a different language when the cameras is not there. … That’s why he’s doing the bully s— he’s doing now, in my opinion. He caught all that s— in our locker room.”
You can hear more from Wallace below, but beware that the clip contains inappropriate language:
Green has been ejected 19 times in his career, which is the second most of any player in NBA history. Wallace is the “leader” with 29 ejections.
Green would have been about 13 or 14 when he hung around Detroit’s championship team. We highly doubt the culture of that team is the sole reason Green has become known for doing things like this, but perhaps Wallace is right that Green was influenced in some way.
More must-reads: