"He works for Klutch and LeBron" - Rasheed Wallace catches flak from NBA fans for downplaying Michael Jordan's 9x All-Defense 1st team titles
Former NBA champion Rasheed Wallace has stirred up a debate within the basketball community by questioning the defensive abilities of Michael Jordan. Wallace's claim, made in a recent interview, challenges the widely held belief that Jordan was an exceptional defender during his career.
In an episode of “That's What Sheed Said,” Wallace claimed Michael Jordan, a one-time Defensive Player of the Year and nine-time member of All-Defensive teams, wasn’t a good defender.
“I've seen this motherfucker get his a** busted, where he couldn't stop a motherf**ker,” Wallace said. “Against J.R. Rider, probably against Clyde Drexler. Don't forget the early Joe Dumars.”
“And I'm not saying that he didn't play defense. I'm just saying that his defense wasn't as high as most other cats at that time.”
Wallace faced off against Michael Jordan for six seasons, including Jordan's two years with the Washington Wizards.
Michael Jordan put up 32.1 points per game in nine clashes against Rasheed Wallace in his career, shooting 48.4%.
Because of Wallace's views, one fan claimed he is working for LeBron James and Klutch Sports, as he seems to diminish Jordan's greatness. He posted on X:
"He works for Klutch and LeBron. Anything you hear from that gross garbage"
Here are other reactions to Wallace’s take.
Wallace is no stranger to criticism. In the 2000-01 season, he set an NBA record by accumulating 41 technical fouls in 80 games.
Carmelo Anthony weighs in on LeBron James vs Michael Jordan debate
In a recent episode of his "7 PM in Brooklyn" podcast, NBA legend Carmelo Anthony shared his perspective on the debate about the greatest of all time (GOAT).
Anthony, a close friend of LeBron James, said the two players shared a similarity in how they chased greatness.
"So Mike's the target. You get what I’m saying?" Anthony said. It's for y'all to debate that. It ain't for me to say that…But then you have a young man (LeBron) that’s coming along who understands that’s what I’m coming for, the same way MJ was talking about coming for those 11 rings."
"So Bron sees that, he’s inspired by that…So I'm going on a journey of being great and through that journey, there's going to be a point in time where if I do what I have to do, I will be in that conversation with my idol. So now, once I get to that conversation, I don't got to go on the road show to say I’m the greatest, I already put myself there."
Anthony said he doesn't know any player with a greater drive to pursue greatness than LeBron.
"Now he's getting the same mindset that MJ got. Y'all determine [who’s the GOAT]. I'm here now… To answer the question, who cares about it most, I think Bron probably cared about it the most because he was the one who was striving to get to that.”