Ex Knick Rasheed Wallace Returning to NBA As Assistant Coach

Ball don't lie, and neither does Darvin Ham, apparently.

Wallace, a four-time All-Star and one of three players to be charged with at least 300 technical fouls, is set to join Ham's forming staff with the Los Angeles Lakers, per The Athletic. The two will reunite after previously collaborating in a championship effort with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.

The New York Knicks are used to Wallace returning to the NBA after a retirement, briefly hosting him for 21 games during the 2012-13 campaign after he previously took two seasons off. He averaged seven points and four rebounds in what became his final professional season but he missed most of the season with a foot injury and did not partake in the team's playoff run.

Wallace's most notable New York moment came on opening night: as the Knicks capped off a one-sided win over the defending champion Miami Heat, fans implored for his insertion. Once that request was fulfilled, Wallace put in the final points of a 104-84 win from beyond the arc. His entry marked his first NBA action since the 2010 NBA Finals with Boston.

Later that year, Wallace became a viral meme when he protested a technical foul in a game against Phoenix by yelling "Ball don't lie!" after Goran Dragic missed the awarded free throw. Wallace was ejected for the phrase, one of an NBA-record 29 early departures. He was charged with 317 technical fouls in his career, joining Karl Malone and Charles Barkley as the only players in NBA history to pass the triple century mark in T's.

Wallace spent last season as an assistant under fellow turn-of-the-century competitor Penny Hardaway with the Memphis Tigers. His first NBA coaching time came shortly after his second, permanent retirement, rejoining the Pistons for one season a decade after his championship run. The Knicks recently worked out one of his former Tiger proteges, freshman Josh Minott, as part of their pre-draft workout process.

The 47-year-old Wallace was also a head coach on the high school level, taking the top spot at Charles E. Jordan (NC) High School for two seasons (2019-21).