Empty the Bench

Detroit Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace is fond of speculating about what he calls the NBA’s “Sheed Rules,” especially in regards to the new zero-tolerance stance commish David Stern implemented before this season concerning players complaining to referees.

“It’s just another ‘Sheed Wallace rule,” Wallace, shaking his head, told the newspaper. “It just means I must be doing something right. Any time they change the rules of the game for one specific player, you must be doing something right.”

As everyone knows, Wallace likes to talk (and drop the f-bomb… a lot) and play the role of victim when it comes to technical fouls and the way he’s officiated. In some cases, he has grounds for his complaints. NBA refs are clearly quicker to T up Wallace for his on-court theatrics than, say, Dwayne Wade. In fact, Wallace has had two techs rescinded by the league this season after the tape was reviewed and the calls deemed unwarranted.

Still, there’s no doubt that ‘Sheed has dug himself into this hole with the league and its officials over the course of his career, and unfortunately his reputation will always precede him. And let’s be honest: how many times have you watched Wallace vehemently voice his displeasure with a call, like many players do, but then not let it go? Sometimes he’s just begging for it with his over-the-top reactions, and that’s why he usually leads the league in technical fouls from year to year (he holds the record for most techs in a season with 41).

But I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Sheed is Sheed, perhaps the biggest enigma in the league. The whole point of this post was an interesting nugget that Chris McCosky posted in his Pistons weblog for the Detroit News. Here’s why Wallace, who sat out both games with a sore foot, was not on the bench during the second half of Friday’s game against the Miami Heat, or against the Memphis Grizzlies last night:

You may have noticed that Wallace was on the bench in the first half of the game at Miami Friday but not in the second half. Here’s why. Somebody from the league office saw him on the bench, deemed that his dress was not appropriate, called Pistons PR man Kevin Grigg and had Wallace banished to the locker room. Wallace was wearing dress slacks and a long-sleeve, collered, button-down dress shirt — I think it’s called a walking suit, but don’t hold me to that.

Bottom line, for Sheed, it was formal wear. But some league fashionista didn’t like it. Apparently, the dress code mandates that players wear a sports coat when they are on the bench. Whatever. If he was wearing jeans or a sweatsuit, yeah, boot him off the bench. But to pick on him for what he wore Friday was petty. Sheed had to stay in the locker room again Saturday for the same reason.

WHAT? Absolutely ridiculous. Like McCosky said, wearing a jersey or whatever on the bench is one thing, but this is taking David Stern’s dress code crusade a bit far. If Wallace wants to talk about the so-called “Sheed Rules,” he has more ammunition with this than anything else.