“Not Letting Michael Jordan Embarrass Me!”: When 6ft 10″ Rasheed Wallace Rejected Bulls Legend’s Challenge to a 1-on-1

Rasheed Wallace is widely considered one of the most talented big men of his era. The former Blazers and Pistons star was a skilled big man who was notorious for the competitive energy he got to the floor.

The former All-Star is one of the many legendary stars the league inherited from the University of North Carolina. The most famous of course is a certain Michael Jordan.

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With famous programs such as UNC’s, there comes the tradition of having scrimmages between their former players and current stars. Rasheed Wallace and Michael Jordan faced off against each other in one such scrimmage prior to Sheed’s NBA ascendancy.

Wallace’s time with UNC coincided with MJ’s prime in the NBA. Naturally, the prospect of facing the NBA’s premier athlete was daunting for any college player and Sheed was no different.

How did Rasheed Wallace describe being asked to play Michael Jordan?

Standing at 6ft 10″, Wallace describes how he and fellow future NBA star Jerry Stackhouse were amongst a select few asked to feature in a scrimmage against Michael Jordan and Co. While the idea of a scrimmage sounded fine, playing one-on-one against MJ was where Sheed drew the line.

In Wallace’s own admission, he wanted none of that smoke from Michael Jordan. Wallace was in no mood to embarrass himself and talks about how he felt his handle hadn’t developed enough to even stand a chance against Jordan, explaining his hesitation.

As Wallace put it, there was no way he was letting himself be embarrassed by the Bulls star. “Y’all crazy, Im’ma stand here and watch him kill y’all!” is what Wallace had to say upon being asked to take MJ one-on-one.

While a lot of college basketball star stories involve extreme acts of false bravado, Wallace knew his place. The illusion of youth didn’t deceive him to challenge the biggest star in the NBA. And wisely so. A competitor of MJ’s ilk definitely wouldn’t have taken well to a college player challenging his authority.

The respect Sheed had for Jordan is evident from his words. And Wallace had no intentions of being embarrassed by MJ and made it abundantly clear to one and all.

Who are some of the other famous UNC alumni to have played in the NBA?

Michael Jordan, Jerry Stackhouse, and Rasheed Wallace form merely three out of the multitude of NBA stars who adorned UNC blue. The Tar Heels are one of the most celebrated collegiate programs and have seen a slew of NBA stars, past and present.

Currently, the likes of Cole Anthony, Harrison Barnes, Danny Green, and Cameron Johnson stand out. While none of them are stars, the golden age of Tar Heel basketball did present a lot of impressive NBA talent.

James Worthy, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Bob McAdoo, and Kenny Smith are some of the other big names to have been associated with UNC. Those are some era-defining names in modern basketball.

UNC holds considerable respect even today in collegiate recruitment. And this is in no small part, due to the rich history of stars the program has produced.

One thing is certain. However things turn out in the future, the sky blue of UNC has been immortalized by this list of stars in NBA lore. UNC’s status as one of the greatest programs of all time is firmly cemented.

Also read: 19 y/o Michael Jordan beat Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler as a freshman at North Carolina