AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - An ESPN.com story posted after the Pistons’ game with Utah on Wednesday that maintained a rift exists between Pistons coach Flip Saunders and forward Rasheed Wallace was brushed off by Saunders and denounced by Wallace after Thursday’s team practice.
The reporter, Chris Sheridan, attended both Wednesday’s game and Thursday’s practice and was approached by Wallace after practice ended. In his story, Sheridan wrote of “ … what appears to be a growing note of discord and disharmony - aw, heck, let’s just call it hate - between Rasheed Wallace and coach Flip Saunders.”
To support his assertion, Sheridan cited an incident from the third quarter Wednesday night when Wallace left a timeout huddle before his teammates to sit on the scorer’s table near mid-court. Sheridan correctly noted that “Wallace has been doing this for years,” but contended this incident was different because of the way his teammates looked at him and the fact Chris Webber went to speak to him as he sat on the scorer’s table, though reporters who observed their exchange saw nothing that indicated disharmony
Defused