The Celtics are headed to Detroit to take on the Pistons for the first time this season, and that means a homecoming for Wallace, who played six years in Detroit and won his only championship ring with the 2003-04 Pistons.
It'll be interesting to see how Sheed is received upon his return to the Palace of Auburn Hills. During his time in Detroit, he was an icon — an emotional team leader, a staunch defensive presence, an explosive offensive weapon from all over the floor. He epitomized the fiery, tough, competitive Pistons that dominated the Eastern Conference in the middle of the decade, making six straight trips to the conference finals.
But Rasheed Wallace is a polarizing figure. When he's on your side, you love him. When he's against you, you love to hate him.
The grating attitude, the intense physical play, the knack for the technical foul — it's the kind of stuff fans love to bemoan. And the same characteristics that made Sheed a fan favorite in Detroit might now make him the enemy. Such is the price of wearing Celtic green.
Wallace bailed on the Pistons at the right time. With a streak of eight consecutive playoff appearances on the line, the Pistons are now off to a 14-26 start. No longer fixated on the conference finals, Detroit has set its sights on the draft lottery. The Pistons are aging, they're injured, they're in disarray. Rookie coach John Kuester has started 11 different players this season. The Pistons are halfway done with the 2009-10 season, and they have yet to find an identity.
And here's Sheed, strolling into town with a Celtics team that's second in the Eastern Conference.
Life's not fair, Pistons fans.
It was always easy to hate Sheed, but it's even easier when your team's a mess and your old fan favorite has become a front-runner on an elite Celtics team.
It wouldn't be surprising to see the Pistons' fans boo him out of the arena.
"He’s going to get booed, and he’s going to get cheered," former teammate Ben Wallace told MLive.com in Michigan. "They’re going to cheer for him for the things he did when he was here, and they’re going to boo him because he left and they wish he was still here."
But at the end of the day, the boos will probably outweigh the cheers.
The first time he protests a call, the fans will let him have it. When he starts pushing, shoving, knocking down jumpers and talking trash, the crowd will get riled up. How could they not? Sheed's act is a laugh riot when he's doing it for your side, but when he's on the other side, it's not too much fun.
Yes, he won a championship in Detroit. But that was nearly six years ago. Those days are long gone. The old nucleus that carried the Pistons through the decade of the 2000s is crumbling — Chauncey Billups has skipped town, Ben Wallace is 35 and losing a step, and Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince are battling injuries. Detroit is losing sight of its basketball heritage.
The Pistons are a historical Eastern Conference power now on the decline. The Celtics are a team that after two decades down in the dumps, have finally returned to the top.
The tables have turned. And Rasheed Wallace has gravitated to a winner. His old fans probably aren't too pleased.
