Achiuwa joins the No. 1 player in the country, James Wiseman (Memphis East), and four-star recruits Boogie Ellis (San Diego Mission Bay), D.J. Jeffries (Olive Branch, MS), Lester Quinones (IMG Academy, FL), Malcolm Dandridge (Memphis East) and Damion Baugh (Tennessee Prep).

Penny Hardaway’s squad will perform on the court, so we can't yet say if it's an all-time recruiting job, but his efforts got myself and my colleague Ronnie Flores on the discussion of the greatest recruiting classes of all time. So we started to dig, and dig, and dig some more.

Some 36 hours later, we had a list of 35 of the all-time great recruiting classes dating back to 1965 for your enjoyment, beginning with UCLA’s class of 1965.

*The list takes into consideration not only the player rankings in those respective classes (listed by number) by the most credible?recruiting lists we?could find, but also what immediate impact the class had during its time in college hoops.?College freshman were first eligible for varsity competition in the 1972-73 season. Classes are listed in chronological order.

1965 UCLA Bruins

Class: Lew Alcindor (aka Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Lucius Allen, Lynn Shackelford, Kenny Heitz

Impact:?The freshman team, led by these four first-year guys, blew out the varsity team, 75-60, in the inaugural game inside of Pauley Pavilion. Alcindor, Allen, Shackelford and Heitz spent their first season competing against other freshman teams and junior college programs, winning those games by an average of 57 points in front of massive crowds. All four moved into the starting lineup as sophomores and ran off three straight national championships led by Alcindor, arguably the greatest college player ever.

1970 UCLA Bruins

Class: Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes, Greg Lee, Tommy Curtis, Vince Carson

Impact: The eventual best player in college basketball, Walton, and the rest of this class had to play freshman ball in 1971 and showed just how good they were as sophomores by going 30-0 and winning the ’72 title over Florida State. UCLA won it again in ’73 over Memphis, but fell to NC State in the ’74 Final Four in the last season of this storied class.

1972 Indiana Hoosiers

Class: Quinn Buckner, Scott May, Tom Abernethy, Jim Crews

Impact: This wasn’t an immediate satisfaction class, but it produced long-term success. May was academically ineligible in the 1972-73 season, but his ability was on full display during his sophomore year.?Bucker actually was an immediate impact freshman (10.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg) on a team that advanced?the the NCAA Final Four.?The Hoosiers went 31-1 in 1974-75 and lost to Kentucky in the regional finals, before going 32-0 in 1975-76, winning the national title over Michigan, 86-68. The ’75-76 Indiana squad is the last team in college basketball to finish a season undefeated.

1978 Louisville Cardinals

Class: Jerry Eaves, Scooter McCray, Wiley Brown, Derek Smith, Poncho Wright

Impact: After recruiting National Player of the Year Darrell Griffith and?Bobby Turner out of Louisville's Male High School in 1976, coach Denny?Crum missed out on big targets like Albert King and Magic Johnson in 1977?and didn’t bring in much of note that fall.?He needed to hit big going into?the 1979 season to surround Griffith with enough talent to make a run at?the program’s third Final Four in the Crum era. Although he didn’t land a?superstar, he brought in excellent depth and a gem in McRay, who was?joined a year later by his younger brother Rodney out of Mt. Vernon, N.Y.?Scooter and Smith were impact players and Eaves and Brown were good role?players as freshman. Even without Turner and an injured Scooter, who was?never the same after his freshman year, Smith and Brown stepped up around?Griffith to develop the program its first NCAA title in 1980. This deep?class made up the core of the team that made another NCAA Final Four?appearance in 1982.

1979 Kentucky Wildcats

Class: Sam Bowie (3), Derrick Hord (5), Dirk Minniefield (20), Charles Hurt (36)

Impact: Bowie and Hord came in as top five recruits and the 7-foot-1 Bowie averaged 12.9 points and eight rebounds per game as a freshman, but battled injuries throughout his career. Hord, Minniefield and Hurt were all solid pieces during their four year careers, but weren’t apart of the 1984 team which lost in the National Semifinals to Georgetown in Bowie’s fifth year.

1979 UCLA Bruins

Class: Darren Daye (9), Rod Foster (28), Michael Holton (43), Cliff Pruitt (95)

Impact: These four UCLA freshmen teamed with senior Kiki Vandeweghe to advance all the way to the NCAA title game, where it lost to Louisville led by Darrell Griffith. Larry Brown left for the NBA and left the program on probation in his wake and this group never achieved the projections set for it.

1982 Duke Blue Devils

Class: Johnny Dawkins (11), Mark Alarie (43), Weldon Williams (62), Jay Bilas?(74), David Henderson, Bill Jackman

Impact: After a rough second year in Durham 10-17, many fans were calling?for coach Mike Krzyzewski’s head, but this is the class that turned things?around. Sure, Duke went 11-17 in 1982-83, but it also saw Dawkins (18.1?ppg) develop into arguably the most important recruit in school history?and the player that started a Duke dynasty that won five NCAA?championships in the Coach K era. Alarie (10 ppg, 6.5 rpg), Henderson (9.1?ppg) and Bilas (8.8 rpg) were also impact freshmen and this group made up?the core of the team that advanced to the first Final Four in the?Krzyzewski era, losing to Louisville in the 1986 NCAA title game.

1985 Louisville Cardinals

Class: Tony Kimbro (4), Pervis Ellison (17), Kenny Payne (22), Keith Williams, Avery Marshall

Impact: After winning the 1980 NCAA title and advancing to the 1982 and?1983 NCAA Final Four, it looked like Denny Crum’s proud program wasn’t on?that level anymore after going 19-18 in 1985. A big reason for that was?senior guard Wilt Wagner had to take a red-shirt for an injury. Similar to?Scooter McCray in ’78 and Lancaster Gordon and Charles Jones in '80, Crum?found another Southern gem in Ellison. "Never Nervous” Pervis teamed up?with Wagner to lead the Cardinals to their second NCAA title in seven?seasons in 1986 and the Savannah, Ga. product was the first freshman ever?named MOP of the NCAA Tournament. Kimbro was a three-year starer and Payne?scored nearly 15 ppg as a senior.

1986 Syracuse Orange

Class: Derrick Coleman (6), Earl Duncan (15), Stephen Thompson (36), Keith Hughes, Matt Roe

Impact: Pearl Washington, a New York City playground legend, and cable?television, made Syracuse a household name in the mid 1980s and coach Jim?Boeheim used that to bring in some excellent recruiting classes around?that time. Although Washington left a season early for the NBA in 1986,?Syracuse’s recruiting class that season help the program get over the hump?and advance to its first NCAA Final Four, where it lost to Indiana in the?title game. Coleman (11.9 ppg, 8.8 rpg) starred immediately, Thompson was?a terrific four-year standout and Duncan (after sitting out as a Prop 48)?and Roe became valuable contributors on NCAA tournament teams after their?freshman seasons.

1988 Georgetown Hoyas

Class: Alonzo Mourning (1), Milton Bell (28), Ronny Thompson, Dikembe?Mutombo, John Turner (JUCO)

Impact: We were tempted to place the 1981 Georgetown class with No.?1 player Patrick Ewing, but we decided to place another John Thompson haul?with a No. 1 national player, Mourning (13.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg). What makes?this class unique is the emergence of Mutombo, a Congo native who attended?Georgetown on a USAID scholarship and spoke basically no English when he?arrived. Although Bell eventually transferred and Turner dropped out,?Mourning made the Hoyas a forced to be reckoned with right away as they?advanced to the Elite Eight and they were quite competitive with the Twin?Towers underneath for the next two seasons after that.

1989 Indiana Hoosiers

Class: Lawrence Funderburke (7), Pat Graham (15), Calbert Cheaney (31), Greg Graham (36), Chris Lawson (76)

Impact: This class was met with a lot of fanfare, especially with thoughts of pairing Funderburke with Bobby Knight, but the fun didn’t last long. Funderburke only lasted six games before transferring to Ohio State after he butted heads with coach Knight. Pat and Greg Graham were solid pieces, but Calbert Cheaney ended up being the gem of that Hoosiers’ class. Cheaney led Indiana to the 1992 Final Four and was the 1993 NCAA Player of the Year as a senior.

1990 North Carolina Tar Heels

Class: Eric Montross (2), Clifford Rozier (5), Derrick Phelps (12), Brian Reese (13)

Impact: All four played roles in their first seasons in Chapel Hill as UNC went to the Final Four in 1991, falling to Kansas, 79-73. Montross ended up leading the Tar Heels in scoring during their run to the 1993 NCAA national title where they defeated the next recruiting class on our list. Rozier ended up transferring to Louisville where he became an All-American, while Reese (11.3 points per game) and Phelps (8.1 ppg) started and played major roles in the title run.

1991 Michigan Wolverines

Class: Chris Webber (1), Juwan Howard (3), Jalen Rose (6), Jimmy King (9), Ray Jackson (76)

Impact: There is no class more highly publicized and analyzed than the famed Fab Five. Webber, Howard, Rose and King were McDonald’s All-Americans, and in fact, played on the same Mickey D’s team. The Wolverines reached back-to-back National Championship games in 1992 and 1993, but fell to Duke and North Carolina, respectively. One of the more interesting facts about this team is it never won a Big Ten championship.

1993 North Carolina Tar Heels

Class: Jerry Stackhouse (2), Rasheed Wallace (3), Jeff McInnis (26)

Impact: Stackhouse and Wallace were considered two of the top three players in the country along with Randy Livingston (LSU), while McInnis rounded out the trio of McDonald's All-Americans. Stackhouse and Wallace took some time away from returning starters Phelps and Reese and UNC faltered in the 1994 NCAA Tournament, falling in the second round to ninth-seeded Boston College.

1994 Michigan Wolverines

Class: Jerod Ward (3), Willie Mitchell (16), Maceo Baston (17), Maurice Taylor?(18), Travis Conlan

Impact: After Michigan’s Fab Five took college basketball by storm in?1992-93, Coach Steve Fisher had the hottest program in the country in the?mid 1990s. He parlayed that info fine recruiting classes in ’94 and ’95.?The ’94 group was labeled Fab Five II, but because leading recruit Ward?never developed as advertised, the program never returned to the NCAA?Final Four before facing NCAA sanctions at the end of the Fisher era.?Still, the 1994 group was productive in Ann Arbor, especially Taylor (12.4?ppg) and Baston, bookend forwards who were more tough than flashy in comparison to?their predecessors on the frontline.

1997 Duke Blue Devils

Class: Chris Burgess (1), Elton Brand (6), Shane Battier (7), William Avery (51)

Impact: Brand, Battier and Burgess were all McDonald’s All-American’s in 1997. Brand came in as an immediate double-double threat, averaging 13.4 points and 7.3 rebounds as a freshman. Avery (8.5 points), Battier (7.6) and Burgess (4.3) were strong supporting actors as freshmen. Duke lost to Kentucky in the Elite Eight in 1998, then fell to Connecticut in the 1999 National Championship game. Brand, a sophomore, led the team in scoring and rebounding that season and was the No. 1 pick in the 1999 NBA Draft by Chicago, while Avery went No. 14 to Minnesota.

1998 UCLA Bruins

Class: Dan Gadzuric (5), JaRon Rush (10), Ray Young (16), Matt Barnes (39), Jerome Moiso

Impact: Rush (11.4 points), Moiso (10.8 points) and Gadzuric (8.6 points) all showed early promise as long-term prospects, but things just didn’t click. The team didn’t meet expectations under Steve Lavin and Ray Young’s career didn’t pan out as most expected. The Bruins made a couple of decent NCAA Tournament runs, but the payer rankings of this group didn’t meet the on-court production.

1999 Kansas Jayhawks

Class: Nick Collison (22), Drew Gooden (26), Kirk Hinrich (46)

Impact: This class wasn’t as highly-touted as many on this list, but it was extremely productive. All three were immediate impact players as freshmen, Collison and Gooden both averaging double-figure scoring in their first season. All three of these recruits were on the 2001-02 team which lost to Maryland in the national semifinals, while Collison and Hinrich were on the squad which lost to Syracuse in the 2003 National Championship game.

2002 Illinois Fightin’ Illini

Class: Dee Brown (19), Deron Williams (38), James Augustine (87)

Impact: Bill Self brought in this class before he left for the Kansas job and the rankings of Brown, Williams and Augustine wouldn’t lend one to believe that this class belongs on the list, but the long-term impact of this trio earned it a spot. All three started from nearly every game their inaugural year and the rapport they built helped them reach the 2005 National Championship game under Bruce Pearl. Illinois lost to North Carolina, 75-70. One honorable mention recruiting class was Lou Henson’s haul in 1986 of Nick Anderson, Steve Bardo, Kendall Gill, Ervin Small and Larry Smith, but because of Prop 48 restrictions, Anderson and Small didn’t play their freshman season.

2002 North Carolina Tar Heels

Class: Raymond Felton (3), Sean May (6), Rashad McCants (8), David Noel

Impact: This trio had a rough start as all were thrust into starting roles under coach Matt Doherty. The 2002-03 Tar Heels went 19-16 overall, 6-10 in the ACC, and missed the NCAA Tournament. Doherty was out after that season and Roy Williams took over and turned the ship around. UNC won the 2005 NCAA Title over Illinois behind the production of McCants, May and Felton.

2002 Syracuse Orange

Class: Carmelo Anthony (1), Gerry McNamara (21)

Impact: This class is important for obvious reasons. Anthony opted to go to college instead of the NBA and the rest is history. Melo immediately became the premier scorer in the country and led the Orange to the 2003 NCAA National Championship. McNamara may have been the overlooked piece to this puzzle, but his 13.3 points per game and consistent long-range shooting was instrumental in Syracuse’s success. Some include Billy Edelin in this class, but he was a 2001 high school graduate who missed his freshman season due to suspension.

2004 Florida Gators

Class: Corey Brewer (29), Al Horford (48), Joakim Noah (67), Taurean Green (70)

Impact: This group didn’t look as good on paper as many on this list, but winning followed wherever it went. They all bought in to each other and coach Billy Donovan’s system which led to it being the last group to win back-to-back NCAA titles. The Gators took down UCLA in 2006 and a great Ohio State team in 2007. Noah, Horford, Brewer and Green all shared the wealth, averaging between 12 and 13.3 points per game in their junior seasons.?

2005 Kansas Jayhawks

Class: Julian Wright (7), Brandon Rush (13), Mario Chalmers (14), Micah Downs (33)

Impact: Rush started every game his freshman year, while Chalmers and Wright eventually played their way into starting roles. The Jayhawks fell to UCLA in the 2007 Elite Eight in this group’s sophomore year, but after Wright left for the NBA and Downs transferred to Gonzaga, Chalmers and Rush helped Kansas win a National Championship in 2008 over Memphis. Chalmers famously hit the game-winning shot.

2006 Ohio State Buckeyes

Class: Greg Oden (1), Daequan Cook (21), Mike Conley (28), David Lighty (41), Othello Hunter (JUCO)

Impact: This class was truly considered one of the best ever led by generational center, Greg Oden, who developed into the No. 1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. Oden averaged 15.7 points and 9.6 rebounds in his freshman campaign, while Conley (11.3, 6.1 assists) and Cook (9.8) took on big time roles as well. Ohio State made a run to the 2007 National Championship game where it fell to Florida.

2006 North Carolina Tar Heels

Class: Ty Lawson (3), Wayne Ellington (4), Brandan Wright (5), Alex Stepheson (62), Deon Thompson (80)

Impact: This class was top heavy for Roy Williams with Lawson, Ellington and Wright floating around the top 10 among the various rankings. Those three stepped in and contributed immediately, while Thompson and Stepheson played more complimentary roles. Wright went one-and-done, but the other four remained to help the Tar Heels made a Final Four run in 2008. Stepheson then transferred to USC and Ellington, Lawson and Thompson won a National Championship in 2009 over Michigan State.

2006 Texas Longhorns

Class: Kevin Durant (2), D.J. Augustin (17), Damion James (23), Dexter Pittman?(68)

Impact: Coach Rick Barnes used his connections with Montrose Christian?(Rockville, Md.) coach Stu Vetter to secure the services of Durant, the?nation’s No. 2 recruit behind Greg Oden who turned in one of the greatest?freshman seasons in NCAA history (25.8 ppg, 11.1 rpg) before being the No.?2 pick of the 2007 NBA Draft behind the same player. Barnes' haul also?included D.J. Augustin (14.4 ppg, 6.7 apg), the underrated James (7.6 ppg,?7. 2 rpg) and a fourth eventual NBA player and four-year contributor in?Pittman.

2009 Kentucky Wildcats

Class: John Wall (1), DeMarcus Cousins (3), Daniel Orton (15), Eric Bledsoe (23), Jon Hood (40), Darnell Dodson (JUCO)

Impact: John Calipari wasted no time bringing in big-time talent at Kentucky. Cal snagged five players in the top 40 and a four-star junior college transfer in Dodson. The Wildcats lost to West Virginia in the Elite Eight, then lost Wall, Cousins, Orton and Bledsoe to the NBA. It was considered a big disappointment.?

2010 Kentucky Wildcats

Class: Enes Kanter (3), Brandon Knight (6), Terrence Jones (13), Doron Lamb (21)

Impact: Kanter didn’t end up playing in his short stay at Kentucky and the Wildcats still managed to make a Final Four run. Knight (17.3 points), Jones (15.7) and Lamb (12.3) were the catalysts on that 2010-11 team which fell to UCONN, 56-55, in the national semifinals.

2011 Kentucky Wildcats

Class: Anthony Davis (1), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (2), Marquis Teague (4), Kyle Wiltjer (22)

Impact: A recruiting class can’t get much better when three of the four guys you bring in start basically every game en route to a National Championship. Davis scooped up every award you can imagine, including Wooden Award and AP Player of the Year, as he averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game, while Kidd-Gilchrist put up 11.9 points and 7.4 boards a contest. Davis and MKG were the top two picks in the 2012 NBA Draft and Teague went 29th to Chicago. Wiltjer played two solid seasons, but transferred to Gonzaga after his sophomore year in Lexington.

2013 Kentucky Wildcats

Class: Julius Randle (3), Andrew Harrison (5), James Young (6), Aaron Harrison (7), Dakari Johnson (9), Marcus Lee (19), Derek Willis (115)

Impact: Randle, Young and the Harrison twins started from the get-go, as the Wildcats had to make up for the departures of Davis, MKG, Teague, Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb whom all ended up being first round picks in the 2012 NBA Draft. Those four, along with sophomore Willie Cauley-Stein, led Kentucky to another National Championship appearance where it fell to Connecticut, 60-54. Randle and Young opted for the one-and-done route with Julius going to the Lakers at No. 7 and James to the Celtics at No. 17. The Harrison twins and Johnson stayed another year before making the jump to the pros. Lee had three average seasons before transferring back home to Cal.

2014 Duke Blue Devils

Class: Jahlil Okafor (1), Tyus Jones (4), Justise Winslow (12), Grayson Allen (17)

Impact: Okafor was an absolute beast at the college level, putting up 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds a night in leading Duke to the 2015 NCAA National Title. Winslow (12.6 points, 6.5 rebounds) and Jones (11.8 points, 5.6 assists) flourished in their starting roles. Okafor (No. 3) and Winslow (No. 10) went in the Lottery of the 2015 NBA Draft and Jones was taken 24th overall.

2014 Kentucky Wildcats

Class: Karl-Anthony Towns (5), Trey Lyles (13), Tyler Ulis (21), Devin Booker (27)

Impact: If you look at the stat sheet for the 2014-15 Wildcats none of the numbers will blow you away. No player averaged more than 11 points per game, but the balance was clear as six Kentucky players scored between 6.4 and 11 points per night. Towns started every game, while Lyles made his way into 21 first five appearances. Booker and Ulis played key bench roles as Kentucky won its first 38 games of that season. The Wildcats run to a perfect season was halted by Wisconsin in the 2015 NCAA national semifinals. Towns was the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Lyles went No. 12 and Booker No. 13.

2017 Duke Blue Devils

Class: Marvin Bagley III (2), Trevon Duval (4), Wendell Carter (7), Gary Trent Jr. (18), Alex O’Connell (58)

Impact: This was a much-heralded coup for Coach K. He grabbed three of the top seven players in the country, including Bagley who reclassified up a class to head to Durham. The lanky lefty was as good as advertised, dropping 20 points and 11 rebounds a night for the Blue Devils, while Trent, Carter and Duval all joined him in the starting five and averaged double-figure scoring. Duke won 29 games in 2017-18, but fell to Kansas, 85-81, in the Elite Eight. Bagley (No. 2) and Carter (No. 7) were selected early in the 2018 NBA Draft, but Trent fell to the second round and Duval went undrafted.

2017 Kentucky Wildcats

Class: Hamidou Diallo (10), Kevin Knox (11), Jarred Vanderbilt (12), P.J. Washington (15), Nick Richards (17), Quade Green (22), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (34)

Impact: Kentucky didn’t land any of the top five players in 2017 as it’s accustomed to doing basically every year, but this seven player haul was absolutely ridiculous for Calipari. All seven contributed in a big way before Vanderbilt lost his season early to injury. The Wildcats ended up struggling in SEC play, finishing fourth in the conference with a 10-8 record before falling to Kansas State in the 2018 Sweet 16.

2018 Duke Blue Devils

Class: R.J. Barrett (1), Cam Reddish (3), Zion Williamson (5), Tre Jones (14), Joey Baker (48)

Impact: Duke needed to reload in 2018 after losing its top five scorers to the NBA Draft and Coach K did so by bringing in three of the top five players in the country. Williamson’s impact was not only felt on the floor from the jump, but also on the airwaves and on social media as the viral dunking sensation was plastered all over every sports morning show you can think of. Barrett lived up to his lofty expectations, Reddish showed flashes of why many considered him one of the more versatile scorers in the country and Jones made sure the team was running like a well-oiled machine. The Blue Devils won 32 games before losing to Michigan State, 69-68, in the 2019 Elite Eight.

The post 35 Greatest Recruiting Classes Of All Time appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

pic.twitter.com/YhHstJRVkM

— John Brisker (@JohnBrisker2021) August 19, 2021

Before any of the 30 ejections or 300+ regular season technical fouls (including an NBA record 41 during the 2000-2001 season), Rasheed Wallace showed in a preseason game during his rookie year vs the 72-10 Bulls that he and the refs weren’t going to be the best of friends.

During a scuffle between Bulls center Luc Longley and Chris Webber, Rasheed thought it was a good idea to bring a ball to a fistfight and sucker punch Luc in the back of the head. He missed Luc and ended up hitting an innocent casualty: the ref..in the head. Luc and Webber were both ejected and surprisingly Rasheed, who was held back by fellow UNC alum Michael Jordan, was not. ?I guess the Ball Does Lie?sometimes.

Sometimes!

As mentioned, in Rasheed's very entertaining 16 years in the league -- which included two retirements -- he set records for most techs ever, most ejections ever and most techs in a season. He was also breaking his own tech records season after season and found ways to get ejected quicker and quicker. How quick? How about 85 seconds in this game.

Although I'm honoring Sheed on his birthday by emphasizing his temper and getting kicked off the court, I could go on and on about all of the good things the NBA champion and 4 x NBA All-Star did on the court at North Carolina and as a member of the Bullets, Blazers, Pistons, Celtics, Knicks and even Hawks for one game. I could also go on and on about all the good things he's been doing off the court, such as delivering water to the people of Flint, Michigan.

Young Sheed was also the USA Today High School Player of the Year after averaging 16 points, 15 rebounds and 7 blocks in just 19 minutes a game during his senior year. And no he didn't only play 19 minutes a game because he was acting like this...

SHEED REACTS TO SHEED

WHY I GOT SO MANY TECHS WITH SHEED & DRAYMOND

SHEED ON TRASH TALKING

SHEED TECHS & EJECTIONS

The post Rasheed Wallace's Best Techs & Ejections | Ball Don't Lie! appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Before any of the 30 ejections or 300+ regular season technical fouls -- including a NBA record 41 during the 200-2001 season -- Rasheed Wallace showed in a preseason game during his rookie year vs the eventual 72-10 Bulls that he and the refs weren't going to be the best of friends.

During a scuffle between Bulls center Luc Longley and Chris Webber, Rasheed thought it was a good idea to bring a ball to a fist fight and sucker punch Luc in the back of the head. He missed Luc and ended up hitting an innocent casualty: the ref...in the head! Luc and Webber were both ejected and surprisingly, Rasheed, who was held back by fellow UNC alum Michael Jordan, was not. I guess the Ball Does Lie sometimes.

As for the game, the Bulls destroyed the Bullets 112-87 and the Webber-less Bullets didn't do much better in the regular season. In their first regular-season meeting, Rasheed scored 17 in a loss that saw Jordan go for 46. Their next double digit loss saw MJ go for 32 and in their final meeting, Sheed only scored 4 in a 17-point loss, while MJ scored 37 in 36 minutes.

Sheed was long gone by the time the Bulls and Bullets met in the 97 playoffs, but here's a great story from Chris Webber about the series.

“One time we played in Washington. We played a five game series against the Bulls. It was the year they won 72 games. We lose all three games by a total of seven points. I saw Michael Jordan come into our locker room with a cigar, while it was lit, and said, ‘Who’s going to check me tonight?’ And we looked at Calbert Cheaney and we were laughing like little school kids knowing that Calbert Cheaney was going to get him, we knew it wasn’t a game for Mike. He was going to be there and he was going to be playing like he said. Game Three we get off the bus and Juwan (Howard) is from Chicago and used to workout there. I’ll never forget, Jordan was sitting on his Ferrari and Pippen was right there and they have a cigar lit. We get off the bus and we have to pass them with a lit cigar. You want to talk about posturing? Forget Phil Jackson. You got Michael Jordan there behind the scenes smoking a cigar before the game, letting us know that he’s the Red Auerbach before the game even started. It was almost like, ‘I lit the cigar. I’m celebrating already. This is just a formality, you guys getting on the court tonight.”

The post 1996 Preseason Bulls vs Bullets Fight: Rasheed Wallace Hits The Ref With A Ball appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Here's a hilarious story by former Portland Trailblazer Antonio Harvey about the day Rasheed Wallace almost lost his life to the great Arvydas Sabonis. The day was April 15th of 2001 and the setting was a game between the Blazers and Lakers at Staples. During the first half, the 7'3 Lithuanian legend took a hit from Shaquille O'Neal, flopped and accidentally smacked Rasheed Wallace in the face, chipping his tooth. Sheed, who was given a black eye by Sabonis earlier that month, loses it and throws a towel at Sabonis' face during a huddle and walks off. The towel incident was witnessed by TV commentator and Sabonis fanatic Bill Walton, who according to Grantland wanted to fight Sheed for his second towel throw of the season (he was suspended two months earlier for hitting a ref with a towel after an ejection).

Walton, who was broadcasting the game nationally, still feels remorse over the incident. “It was one of the lowest moments of my life,” he said. “If I was any kind of a man, I would have got up from that broadcast table and walked across the court and punched Rasheed Wallace in the nose. But I let Sabonis and the game of basketball and the human race down that day.”

What Walton didn't know is the human race almost lost Sheed that same day. According to Harvey, back in the lockeroom, a loud and furious Sheed was yelling and saying he was going to "fuck up" Sabonis, who Harvey also claims to be "built like a tree" with the "biggest head you will ever see." Sabonis calmly looks at Harvey and says, "I will kill him" in his best Ivan Drago voice. Harvey, realizing Sabonis is dead serious and fears his Jailblazers teammates wont be able to stop Sabonis from "choking the life" out of Sheed, starts yelling at the hot head with a spot on his head to shut up.

Sheed obviously survived the incident but was suspended for the final game of the season by the organization for "conduct detrimental to the success of the team." The media assumed it was just for the towel incident.

As fate would have it, Sheed was back on the court just in time to face Shaq and the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. Three games and approximately ten Sabonis posters later, the Blazers season was done.

HOW GOOD WAS SABONIS?

As interesting as the question "What if Sabonis would have killed Rasheed Wallace in 2001" is, it's not as interesting as one of the biggest “What Ifs” in NBA history: What if Sabonis came to the NBA during his prime?

For over a decade, multiple NBA teams tried to get him: The Hawks drafted him in 1985 but the league voided the selection because he was under 21. A year later, the Trailblazers drafted the now 21-year old Sabonis with the 24th pick in the 1986 draft, but wasn’t able to put a jersey on him until almost a decade later (1995). Many people, including myself and Blazers' great Clyde Drexler, believes the Blazers would have won multiple NBA championships in the late 80s with a prime Sabonis.

In his first year in the league, as a 31-year old rookie with so many injuries the Blazers GM said "Sabonis could have qualified for a handicap parking spot based just on his X-Ray," Sabonis was runner-up for Rookie of the Year (over players like Joe Smith, Jerry Stackhouse, Kevin Garnett, Antonio McDyess and Rasheed Wallace) and the 6th Man of the Year award. He also became a fan-favorite in Portland during the Jailblazers era for seven seasons.

Although the future Hall of Famer was good for a double-double on any given night in the NBA, occasionally had dominant performances (21/20 against the Championship Bulls - video below) and probably was the best big man passer in the league, it was always a little disappointing to see him play so well as a shell of his former self because I knew most people would never consider him as one of the GOATs because he didn't get to dominate the Hakeems, David Robinsons and Patrick Ewings in the 80s and early 90s. Well, he did get to dominate David Robinson during the Olympics.

BONUS VIDEOS

The post LOL Storytime: The Day Arvydas Sabonis Almost Killed Teammate Rasheed Wallace appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Now check out these rare-ass clips. 1999. Wolves vs Blazers. KG vs Sheed. Older Pippen and Sabonis. Check it.

Enjoy.

The post Flashback Friday: 1999 Wolves vs Blazers highlights appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

Is this the best championship team without a superstar ever?

The post Epic Photo of the Day: Best Team Without a Superstar? appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.