NEW YORK — The Rasheed Wallace Era is over.
Wallace’s brief comeback attempt with the Knicks officially ended Wednesday when the 6-foot-11 big man announced his retirement.
As recently as the Wednesday morning shootaround, the Knicks were saying Wallace still had a “sore” left foot and his status was unclear.
Shortly afterward, they issued a statement saying he was retiring.
“When you’ve played a number of years in this league, you know,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said before the season finale against Atlanta. “You know that you just can’t answer the bell anymore.”
Before Tuesday, Wallace hadn’t played since Dec. 13. The Knicks initially called his injury a “sore left foot” and called him day-to-day for several months until finally relented and calling it a “stress reaction.” He underwent surgery in February and was in a walking boot for a period before beginning to rehab.
On Sunday, Woodson was still optimistic, saying he he hoped Wallace could play 10-15 minutes per game in the playoffs beginning Saturday against the Celtics.
But after lasting just 3 minutes, 50 seconds in Tuesday’s loss at Charlotte before coming up with a sore foot, Wallace hung it up.
“It wasn’t right and he didn’t feel right after the game and he decided to walk away,” Woodson said.
As an assistant with the 2004 Detroit Pistons, Woodson won an NBA title with Wallace and then lured Wallace out of retirement in October.
“He was big part of our team,” Woodson said. “I tried to get him out of retirement over a year ago.”
A first-round draft pick in 1995, Wallace played 15 seasons in the NBA. He retired in 2010 after one season with the Celtics in which the team lost to the Lakers in the Finals.
He finishes his career with averages of 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. The four-time All-Star has been known as a volatile player and finishes as the all-time leader in technical fouls with 304.
“Sheed was a great player, but I think he was one of the best players that never really wanted to get noticed for being a great player,” Nets guard Jerry Stackhouse, who played with Wallace at North Carolina, told SNY.tv before the Nets closed the regular season against the Detroit Pistons. “Everybody always looked for him to have that super breakout year, to be a big 20-point guy, but he was somewhat content to be a 15-guy, making sure he got everyone else involved.”
“He was probably unselfish almost to a fault from what where I think his ability could have put him in the history of the game, but that’s who Sheed is. He kind of walked to the beat of his own drum.”
With Wallace done, the Knicks brought back another ex-Knick.
One day after signing former Knick Quentin Richardson for the playoffs, New York on Wednesday announced the signing of 7-footer Earl Barron in the wake of Wallace’s retirement.
Barron played seven games for the Knicks in 2009-2010, averaging 11.7 points and 11.0 rebounds over 33.1 minutes.
“The way we play offensively he fits right in from a pick-and-pop guy who can help some,” Woodson said. “Defensively, he knows the rotations. He’s another big, We’re happy to have him.”
Photo: NJ.com
