[2] He was named USA Today's High School Player of the Year after his senior season and was selected first-team All America by Basketball Times.

Wallace has indicated that this North Carolina bond with Brown helped him adjust quickly to the Pistons system.

Wallace and fellow future NBA player Jerry Stackhouse helped lead the Tar Heels to the NCAA Final Four in 1995.

He left North Carolina to enter the 1995 NBA draft after his sophomore season, being selected with the fourth pick overall by the Washington Bullets.

En route to being named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, Wallace averaged 10.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists.

After the season, Wallace was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers, along with Mitchell Butler in exchange for Rod Strickland and Harvey Grant.

He began extending himself into the community more than ever, most notably with his Rasheed Wallace Foundation, but his career suffered from numerous missteps on and off the court.

[8] Wallace was far from the only perceived trouble maker on Portland at the time, his teammates, Bonzi Wells, Damon Stoudamire, and Zach Randolph for instance, were also frequently criticized by media and fans for off-court outbursts and legal incidents, leading to the team often being referred to as The Jail Blazers.

Two years later, during the 2002 NBA Playoffs, despite Wallace posting career high postseason averages of 25.3 points and 12.3 rebounds per game,[13] Portland was again eliminated by the eventual champion Lakers.

[14] On February 9, 2004, just before the 2004 NBA All-Star Game, Wallace was traded to the Atlanta Hawks along with Wesley Person for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Theo Ratliff and Dan Dickau.

He also had six rebounds, five blocks, two assists and a steal in a close loss on the road against the New Jersey Nets, though he did not score in the fourth quarter.

[18] After falling behind against the Indiana Pacers in the 2004 Eastern Conference Finals, he stated boldly in an interview that "We will win Game 2,"[19] a promise he helped fulfill.

[20] In Game 4 of the 2004 NBA Finals, Wallace recorded 26 points, 13 rebounds and 2 assists in an 88–80 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

[21] Wallace helped the Pistons win an unexpected NBA title, beating the heavily favored Lakers four games to one.

[23] In the off-season following the Pistons' championship win, Wallace signed a five-year, $57 million contract to remain with Detroit.

However, early in the season, the Pistons had a fight with the Indiana Pacers, which resulted into several suspensions for players putting the team into a temporary setback.

After the second-round elimination of the Pacers, Wallace played his best series of the postseason in the Eastern Conference finals against the top-seeded Miami Heat.

Against the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals, Wallace was criticized for leaving Robert Horry open for the game-winning three-pointer in Game 5.

On March 26, 2007, in a game against the Denver Nuggets, Wallace threw up a 60-foot shot off a stolen inbound pass with 1.5 seconds remaining and banked it in from just behind halfcourt to force overtime letting out a huge roar from what was left of the Palace crowd.

On February 10, 2008, it was announced that Wallace would be replacing Boston Celtics' injured forward Kevin Garnett in the 2008 NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans.

[36] In July 2013, Wallace joined the Detroit Pistons staff as an assistant coach after signing a two-year contract with the team.

[38] On March 8, 2019, Wallace was introduced as the new boys varsity basketball head coach at Charles E. Jordan High School in Durham, North Carolina.

[41] Wallace was known for his intensity and expressive personality, resulting in frequent confrontations with opponents and officials (often leading to technical fouls and ejections) but also moments of humor.

[43][44] During the 2008 Playoffs, Wallace went on an expletive-laced tirade following Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics in which he lashed out at the officiating.

[45][46] Wallace popularized the phrase "Ball don't lie", used when a player on the opposing team misses a free throw after a contentious call by the referees.

[55] Wallace's efforts inspired Stephen Jackson, Rachel Nichols, Kyle Kuzma, and other celebrities to help in Flint.