Exclusive: Cason Wallace All-Star Weekend Spent Reflecting and Rising OKC Q-Rating

The NBA All-Star Weekend featured plenty of Oklahoma City Thunder representation, including Cason Wallace who was tabbed to partake in the NBA Rising Stars contest for the second straight season before a shoulder injury sidelined the Kentucky product.

Still, his weekend in San Francisco was spent around his two All-Star teammates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams as well as his coaching staff who helped bench boss the Rising Stars and All-Star games.

While in the Bay Arena, Wallace teamed up with Panini America along with several other NBA players, legends and draft prospects at the Panini Prizm VIP lounge.

In a phone interview with Thunder on SI, Wallace dished on his card collections, learning from Alex Caruso and the Q-Rating of the OKC Thunder skyrocketing.

Wallace played in all 82 games a year ago and has tallied 128 games total in an NBA career that has featured plenty of welcome-to-the-league-moments. However, a game in his rookie season against an NBA legend is when he finally felt like he made it to the big leagues.

“Ripping James Harden then traveling into a dunk. That was the most NBA it could get. Ripping James Harden on one of his signature moves, then you know, growing up you always see the NBA players traveling and the refs don’t call it, so for that to happen to me, that was pretty cool,” Wallace laughed recalling the moment to Thunder on SI.

This season, the defensive ace has teamed up with defensive stalwart Alex Caruso as the OKC Thunder have posted historic defensive numbers at the All-Star Break.

“It is great. [Alex Caruso] has a lot of pointers on a lot of things on the basketball court. He has been through it. You know, he has a lot of wisdom, a lot of knowledge. Just picking his brain about a lot of things that can help,” Wallace said of that pairing.

That stellar defense has contributed to the Oklahoma City Thunder's 44-10 record, giving the Thunder the best mark in the NBA to date and being a factor in the team's Q-Rating skyrocketing.

The OKC Thunder have seen Superstar Gilgeous-Alexander unveil his first signature shoe and Lu Dort star in a Reese's commercial in the past week - along with Wallace's partnership with Panini America.

At All-Star Weekend, Gilgeous-Alexander held a launch party for his first shoe, the SHAI 001, which his fellow Kentucky product is a big fan of.

“That is a cool moment. I like the shoe a lot. I like the way he intro’d the shoe, that was cool the way he went about that,” Wallace said.

Dort's Reese's advertisement features the defensive ace guarding a rack of the new butter cups stopping shoppers from snagging the chocolate. From defending top NBA scorers to soccer moms, consider Wallace impressed.

“Yeah, the way he guarded that lady in the commercial, I do not think I would be able to get a Reeces from him. But, I seen the commercial, it was fun. We joked about him with that,” Wallace joked with Thunder on SI.

However, a bulk of Wallace's time in San Fransisco was spent around trading cards, a familiar setting for a long-time card collector.

“I collected trading cards when I was younger. All types of cards, like football, baseball, anything I could get my hands on, really,” Wallace told Thunder on SI. “Honestly, I really liked getting Pokemon cards, because we would be at school playing Pokemon.”

From collecting all forms of cards to being plastered on them, Wallace is living the dream of many. One that becomes more surreal with each passing NBA game.

“My first card was when I went to the McDonald’s All-Star game, that was cool. Just seeing the beginning of my cards. That was big.” Wallace said. “Yes, I definitely have a collection now of my own. I have some pretty cool cards, you know? There are a lot more that I want to get that fans have.”

“Yeah, I remember cards I have seen before [in the crowd] and If I see a new one I am like ‘That is a new one, I gotta get that one.’” Wallace explained to Thunder on SI.

A weekend stint with Panini has brought Wallace jam-packed fun and even has the Thunder second-year defensive menace picking up new skills.

“Having fun, signing cards, learning some new languages and just kicking my feet up,” Wallace detailed his weekend.

Ultimately, the All-Star Weekend gets put in the rear-view mirror with the Utah Jazz looming on Friday to resume regular season play. Though, it is easy for the Thunder to buy into the mottos such as stack days that Daigneault preaches and they will soon hear again.

“I think the fact that it works and it's true. We are all competitors and we do not like to lose so, another way to say that is ‘get the car back on the road,’ as long as everybody is bought in, I feel like it is easy to connect with his sayings or whatever.” Wallace explained.

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