Wallace: Trade was a "stab in the back"

[DJT]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Calling it a "stab in the back" and "slap in the face," Gerald Wallace hasn't got over being blindsided by Michael Jordan's Charlotte Bobcats.

Back in Charlotte on Thursday for the first time since being traded last month to the Portland Trail Blazers, the last original member of the Jordan-owned Bobcats and the franchise's only All-Star acknowledged he's still adjusting to the most shocking event of his professional career.

"To feel like you're not wanted anymore or you're not good enough for the franchise anymore, it's a slap in the face," said Wallace, whose new team faces the Bobcats Friday. "That was a hurtful feeling for me."

Gerald Wallace called his trade to the Portland Trail Blazers a "stab in the back" and a "slap in the face."
And completely unexpected.

While the Bobcats had been shopping the forward for months and his agent told him there was a "50-50 chance" he'd be dealt, Wallace never thought it would happen. The belief was reinforced when coach Paul Silas told him early on Feb. 24, trade deadline day, that he was safe.

"Basically, he told me before the practice that I was good, that no trades were going to go down and I was OK and I didn't have anything to worry about," Wallace said. "Then I get home and bam, I'm traded."

Charlotte's second-leading scorer was dealt for three role players and two first-round draft picks, a move that saved the money-losing Bobcats about $21 million over the next two seasons. Jordan later told The Associated Press that "I love the trade" because it gives him financial flexibility to make future moves because, "we don't want to be the seventh or eighth seed" each season.

"He really loved this team," Silas said of Wallace. "It was unfortunate it had to happen but it did."

Wallace, though, thinks cutting payroll was the biggest reason for the trade and expressed dismay with how the situation was handled by Jordan's top lieutenant, general manager Rod Higgins.

"I don't even want to comment on that guy," Wallace said, before adding he believes Higgins was adamant in wanting to deal him.

"I feel like that's been something he's been wanting to do."

The leftover friction made for a strange scene as Wallace practiced with the Trail Blazers on the Bobcats' practice floor Thursday in an arena that's erased almost all of his pictures, paintings and images of the 7-year-old franchise's most popular player.

“I think it still is an adjustment period, especially when you've been in a place as long as he had like here in Charlotte. It was definitely tough on him.”
-- Marcus Camby on Gerald Wallace's adjustment to Portland

The only sign of Wallace, who went from an expansion draft pickup to one of the top small forwards in the league, was an advertisement on a video board with him in a Blazers uniform promoting ticket sales for Friday's game.

Bobcats guard Stephen Jackson, who is set to return from hamstring injury Friday, expects his friend to get a standing ovation. Wallace thinks the night will be "emotional" but is unsure how he'll feel.

"I thought I was going to retire here," the 28-year-old Wallace said. "I actually thought that when I stopped wearing a Bobcats uniform I'd be done with basketball."

Now Wallace is trying to fit in as a sixth man on a new team.

"I think it still is an adjustment period, especially when you've been in a place as long as he had like here in Charlotte," Blazers center Marcus Camby said. "It was definitely tough on him."

But it's clear the Blazers, who sit in sixth place in the Western Conference, craved the athletic Wallace.

"I love him. He's a guy that brings it. He's a very competitive player, mentally tough," Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. "In this league there are men and there are boys. Gerald is a man. When you're in this league, you need those guys that don't fear opposing players. Wallace doesn't fear LeBron [James], Dwyane [Wade], Kobe [Bryant]."

After a slow start, Wallace played a big role in his sixth game with Portland on Tuesday night, consistently going right at James and finishing with 22 points and nine rebounds in a victory over Miami.

"I think my main thing was trying to learn the plays and trying to get over the shock of the trade and everything," Wallace said. "It took me a week to do that. Once that settled down and reality set in, you just move forward."

Still, the pain was still evident as Wallace left the practice court Thursday afternoon to head to the unfamiliar visiting locker room at Time Warner Cable Arena.

"I felt like it was a stab in the back, something I that I totally didn't see coming," Wallace said. "I was comfortable here. I thought everything was good. We were starting to get guys back healthy and we were starting to make a push.

"My heart was here. My heart and soul were here and it's always been here for the last seven years."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

I understand where he is coming from, but come on Portland >>>>Charlotte.

 

[SaintFan25]

I understand where he is coming from, but come on Portland >>>>Charlotte.

I'm sure he's happy to be in Portland, just spending 7 years on 1 team you expect a little more loyalty.

 

[DJT]

Thats true. But I also love him in Portland.

 

[SaintFan25]

Thats true. But I also love him in Portland.

As do I, been waiting since 05 when the rumors started for us to get him.

 

[DJT]

My biggest wish is for Portland to get all healed up...that'd be real nice. I mean they are a good team without Oden, a banged up Roy, etc. Sad thing is Roy may never be 100% again. As for Oden, I think he can come back strong still. I just hope Portland's management hasn't given up on him.

 

[SaintFan25]

My biggest wish is for Portland to get all healed up...that'd be real nice. I mean they are a good team without Oden, a banged up Roy, etc. Sad thing is Roy may never be 100% again. As for Oden, I think he can come back strong still. I just hope Portland's management hasn't given up on him.

Yeah same here. I really don't wanna trade Oden, at least not yet. When healthy he's a beast, I wanna see if he can get healthy next year, he won't be 100% but it will be nice to have him back.

 

[DJT]

He better wear some knee braces on each knee.

 

[Pugz]

As do I, been waiting since 05 when the rumors started for us to get him.

and being that teams first player ever makes it even harder. you think of the bobcats you think of crash.

 

[cruzg24]

Idk what the big deal is, players have been traded many times before in situations like this. Maybe a little different cuz your coach tells you your not getting traded at the deadline, but it happens. And now hes on a better team so he needs to show the Bobcats they made a mistake.

 

[MR.ballin]

I hated this guy since the pathetic show he put on at the dunk contest... any time he is mad or sad makes me happy.

 

[buzzy]

I didn't intend to turn this into a LeBron topic, but since there are stories and "back stabbings" like this one, I think people should cut LeBron some slack for leaving Cleveland like the way he did.
Since teams treat their players like commodities, they shouldn't be surprised if players treat them the same way back.

Pierce said it well after the Perkins trade

Pierce also said this [Kendrick Perkins' trade] is an example of how the ruthlessness of the NBA cuts both ways.

"It's the nature of the business," he said. "People thought LeBron James was cold for leaving Cleveland the way it is. This is an example of how it happens on the management end. You can't get mad at the players because it can happen to them unexpectedly, just like a player can go where he wants. It's just the nature of the beast."

 

[elcheato]

No one cares that he left the Cavs, it's how he did it... How do people not know that already?

 

[Elite]

If people only cared about the way he left, they wouldn't be calling him a baby and saying he'll never be Jordan and he's taking the easy way out. That excuse is old

 

[elcheato]

I don't care about other teams fans, they can say that if they want.

 

[VC15]

I hated this guy since the pathetic show he put on at the dunk contest... any time he is mad or sad makes me happy.

Win.

I don't see why he has a reason to complain. He's on a better team now with a MUCH better FO.

 

[$tunna]

I hated this guy since the pathetic show he put on at the dunk contest... any time he is mad or sad makes me happy.

I LOL everytime I think about it