Celtics Rasheed Wallace Wears Flyers Hat to Show Hometown Loyalty

Boston Forward/Center Rasheed Wallace is a native of Philadelphia. Wallace was a star high school basketball player for the legendary Simon Gratz High School where he was named High School Player of the Year in 1992. Needless to say, Wallace has a life-long love for the people and city that he still refers to as home. After playing in the NBA for years, it is fair to say that Wallace was well-traveled before landing in Boston this past summer. Considered by many to be a missing ingredient that would help propel the Celtics back into title contention, Wallace struggled for most of the regular season. He even struggled in the early part of the 2010 NBA playoffs while playing limited minutes. Known over his career as a big man with above average perimeter skills, Wallace's age seemed to be weighing heavily on his role in Boston. Even his solid defensive skills were somewhat overlooked and under-utilized. That would change on Sunday night, as Wallace's defensive strengths were on full display in the game 1 Celtics victory over the Orlando Magic. Wallace harassed, irritated, and man-handled Magic Center Dwight Howard, even causing Howard to lose his composure at one point. Most experts credit Wallace as a huge contributor in the Celtics victory, and point to his continued influence in the Eastern Finals series as a key to a Boston vistory.

Now things get interesting. There were initial sightings of Rasheed Wallace wearing Philadelphia Flyers gear in the Boston locker room recently, even though the beloved NHL's Boston Bruins were locked in mortal combat with the Flyers. Some people brushed it off as home team loyalty, while others snickered, realizing that the Bruins were leading the Flyers in their best-of-seven series, 3 games to 0. Well, who would have known, but the Flyers went on a historic 4 game comeback run, defeating the Bruins 4-3 and breaking the hearts of Boston fans all over New England. Enter Rasheed Wallace at yesterday's national Eastern Finals media day. The Boston Celtic and key contributor to a team that is now locked in its own epic playoff series, Wallace arrives in front of the dozens of camera's sporting; you guessed it, a Philadelphia Flyers cap. Needless to say, the Boston fans are not in the mood to see the Flyers logo resting on the brow of one of their key NBA players. Let the controversy begin!

There are obvious sports-related questions attached to this issue. Do the Boston faithful have a bone to pick with Wallace, or is Wallace simply being true to his roots? Are professional athletes obligated to support all of the other professional teams within their current teams market? In some weird way, Wallace, who is known for being his own man, may see this as motivation and it may come back to actually help his Boston Celtics team. Let's see how this unfolds.

SOURCES

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1255574&srvc=rss

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/rasheed_wallace/index.html

http://www.nbadimensions.net/forums/nba-playoffs/53507-rasheed-wallace-wearing-flyers-cap-boston.html

http://www.the700level.com/2010/05/flyers-fan-rasheed-wallace-invades-garden-locker-room.html