Source:http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/writ...otes/index.html Bad timing Wallace's comments won't help image of reeling Blazers Posted: Friday December 12, 2003 3:19PM; Updated: Friday December 12, 2003 3:19PM Leave it to Rasheed Wallace to pick a rotten time to stir the pot. With his Trail Blazers struggling and still reeling from the Bonzi Wells affair, he couldn't help but open his mouth and create yet another firestorm in Rip City. Then again, given Sheed's history of costly technicals at critical times, Portland fans surely aren't surprised. Wallace is entitled to his opinon. If he sees "exploitation" in a league that guarantees players 50 percent of gross revenues (with none of the risk), has the first minority owner in pro sports (Charlotte's Bob Johnson) and several minority GMs and high-ranking front-office executives, so be it. But he might get an argument from Billy Hunter and the Players Association. For the Blazers, all that matters is that Wallace has just added another distraction to a team in turmoil. He also has made it tougher for GM John Nash to find a taker for Wallace (and others) as he goes about the business of trying to clear house. Who knows, maybe this is all Rasheed's way of trying to prevent just such a trade. Wallace is a talented player who has shown repeatedly over the years that he still has a lot of growing up to do. Perhaps the most revealing insight in his published comments was when he said he didn't regret his arrest for marijuana possession until his wife, Fatima, told him it bothered her and the kids. In other words, his family was an afterthought. No wonder he seems to care so little about his Blazers teammates. The blood sucking media is having a field day with this.
