A year after Allen Iverson and his legendary “Practice?”, Rasheed Wallace also offered an unforgettable moment at a press conference.
On April 27, 2003, after the Blazers' victory in Game 4 of the first round of the playoffs against the Mavericks, the center appeared before the media. The journalists had their questions, the player came with his answers. Well, only one answer: “Both teams played hard.” (“Both teams played hard” in VO).
And it wasn't just a verbal tic on the player's part or a possible sign of disappointment (Portland won that game, even though Dallas still led 3-1 in the series) but a desire to get that moment out of the way.
Fifteen years later, on the set of the show The Jumpthe 2004 champion had justified himself for this cult moment.
“I tried to be nice”he says ironically. “It came from my war with the media (Editor's note: his portrait during these years), when I was in Portland. There were a lot of false things being said about us. If I spoke up, I got fined, and if I didn't speak up, I got fined too. So I came up with that phrase.”
The NBA, not having appreciated Rasheed Wallace's little performance, had nevertheless sanctioned the player… with a fine of 30,000 dollars straight away.
But this famous phrase, often used in press conferences by players and coaches alike, and now stuck to Rasheed Wallace, as he joked Terry Stotts in 2019.
