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Today’s NBA game is all about versatility, making players who can do it all (score, rebound, pass, defend, etc.) valuable commodities in this new era of positionless basketball. A generation earlier, two stars who fit this mold at the forward position were Shawn Marion and Rasheed Wallace – despite very different personalities and temperaments, each was a highly productive player on both ends of the court for some championship-contending teams; as perhaps borderline Hall of Fame-type players from the 2000s, let us compare this duo and pose the question:
Who was better – Shawn Marion or Rasheed Wallace?
The Beginning
Despite different basketball pedigrees, Marion and Wallace both ended up being lottery draft picks and had solid, if unspectacular, rookie seasons in the NBA.
Born in Illinois, but raised in Tennessee, Marion excelled in high school at basketball, earning First Team Tennessee All-State honors; however, post-high school, he first attended junior college Vincennes University in Indiana and was an All-American selection in both his freshman and sophomore seasons before transferring to UNLV. As a member of the Runnin’ Rebels, he was a First Team All-Western Athletic Conference (WAC) selection in his lone season with the team before declaring early for the 1999 NBA Draft. The ninth overall selection by the Phoenix Suns, Marion missed 31 games in his rookie season due to injuries, but averaged 10.2 points (on 47.1% shooting), 6.5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game to make the All-Rookie Team.
In contrast, the Philadelphia native Wallace was one of the elite high school basketball players in the nation – a 2x First Team Parade All-American, a McDonald’s All-American, Mr. Basketball USA, and USA Today High School Player of the Year as a senior, he was recruited to blue-blood program North Carolina. Following a strong freshman season (Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) All-Freshman Team), he improved to First Team All-ACC and Second Team All-American as a sophomore while teaming up with Jerry Stackhouse to lead the Tar Heels to the Final Four. Post his sophomore season, Wallace declared early for the 1995 NBA Draft and was selected fourth overall by the then-Washington Bullets (one pick behind Stackhouse and directly before Kevin Garnett); like Marion, he was named to the All-Rookie Team while averaging 10.1 points per game on 48.7% shooting with 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
Career Comparison
In their respective primes during the 2000s, Marion and Wallace were both All-Star caliber, do-it-all forwards; moreover, as a testament to their abilities to adapt their versatile skills, each was a key contributor on multiple winning franchises.
With point guards like Jason Kidd, Stephon Marbury, and Steve Nash quarterbacking the Suns’ offense, Marion quickly evolved into one of the league’s most versatile and productive players. As a sophomore NBA player, “The Matrix” (as he was known) improved his averages to 17.3 points (on 48.0% shooting), 10.7 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game, one of 4x averaging a double-double and the first of eight straight seasons with at least 15 points and 9 rebounds per game; moreover, defensively, he would also average at least a steal and a block nightly for that span, including six consecutive seasons with 2+ steals per game. Following a similarly productive campaign in 2001-2002, he scored 20+ points per game (21.2) for the first time in 2002-2003, adding 9.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game for the first of four All-Star selections.
Upon the arrival of Nash in 2004-2005, Marion upped his game to the next level in coach Mike D’Antoni’s high-octane offense, posting three straight All-Star seasons with a pair of All-NBA selections:
- 2004-2005: 19.4 points per game on 47.6% shooting with 11.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game; named Third Team All-NBA and was also just the second player in league history to place top-five in both rebounding and steals, joining David Robinson from 1991-1992
- 2005-2006: a career-best 21.8 points (52.5% shooting) and 11.8 rebounds per game with 1.8 assists per game; again Third Team All-NBA
- 2006-2007: 17.5 points per game on 52.4% shooting with 9.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game
However, as trade rumors swirled, Marion was dealt midway through the 2007-2008 season to the Miami Heat along with Marcus Banks in exchange for Shaquille O’Neal; despite still being a nightly double-double threat, he was on the move again the following season together with Banks, this time to the Toronto Raptors for Jermaine O’Neal and Jamario Moon.
After half a season north of the border, Marion was acquired by the Dallas Mavericks in a sign-and-trade deal; on a team clearly led by Dirk Nowitzki, Marion was no longer his previous all-around dominant self, but instead settled into a consistent 10-12 point and 6-8 rebound per game range during his five seasons in Dallas. Finally, following a forgettable 2014-2015 season with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he retired at age 36 from the NBA as the first player in league history with at least 15,000 career points, 10,000 rebounds, 1,000 blocks, and 500 three-pointers, as well as just the fourth player ever with 17,000 career points, 9,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals, and 1,000 blocks (after Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, and the aforementioned Garnett).
As for Wallace, Washington decided to build their frontcourt around former Michigan teammates Chris Webber and Juwan Howard and thus traded him after just one season to the Portland Trail Blazers together with Mitchell Butler for Rod Strickland and Harvey Grant. In his first season in Portland in 1996-1997, Wallace improved his numbers to 15.1 points (on a career-best 55.8% shooting), 6.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game; after a brief dip in 1998-1999, he would continue to build upon those numbers, including back-to-back All-Star seasons in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001:
- 1999-2000: 16.4 points per game on 51.9% shooting with 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game
- 2000-2001: 19.2 points per game on 50.1% shooting (including a career-high 42 points vs. the Denver Nuggets) with 7.8 rebounds and a career-high 2.8 assists per game; however, also set a single-season record for technical fouls breaking his own record
The next year, he had arguably his best statistical season: 19.3 points per game on 46.9% shooting with a career-high 8.2 rebounds per game plus 1.9 assists per game; however, on the flip side, he was a volatile presence on the court, as evidenced by his ever-increasing technical foul count.
Following another strong season in 2002-2003 (18.1 points and 7.4 assists per game), Wallace was traded midway through the 2003-2004 season with Welsey Person to the Atlanta Hawks for Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Theo Ratliff, and Dan Dickau, though only suited up for one game with the Hawks before being flipped in a three-team deal to the Detroit Pistons (Wallace and Mike James to the Pistons, Chuck Atkins, Lindsey Hunter, and a first-round draft pick to the Boston Celtics, Bob Sura, Zeljko Rebraca, and a first-round pick to the Hawks). On a veteran Pistons team that also included Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Ben Wallace in the starting five, he was a valuable contributor even though he sacrificed some of his individual numbers, e.g. his scoring numbers decreased from ~17 points nightly in Portland to ~13-14 points per game in Detroit. Nevertheless, across five years in the Motor City, he was twice named to the All-Star Game, first in 2005-2006 as a power forward (15.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game) and again in 2007-2008 as a center (“only” 12.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game).
At the end of the 2008-2009 season, the Pistons started to dismantle their aging veteran core, e.g. Billups was traded to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson; as a free agent, Wallace signed with the Boston Celtics, but only played one season with the team in a primarily reserve role before retiring at age 35 post the 2009-2010 season. Two years afterwards, he came out of retirement and joined the New York Knicks, but only played 21 games during the 2012-2013 season (missing a large chunk of the season with a broken foot) before retiring for good.
Across 16 NBA seasons and multiple teams apiece, Marion and Wallace played a comparable number of regular season games, with the former generally putting up better numbers across the board (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, etc.) with better efficiency. Moreover, while both players were 4x All-Stars and All-Rookie selections, Marion also made a pair of All-NBA Third Teams. Not surprisingly, between the numbers and the accolades, Marion likewise comes out ahead in both career Player Efficiency Rating (PER) at 18.8 vs. 17.0 and Win-Shares (124.9 vs. 105.1). Interestingly, the duo faced off head-to-head 25x in the regular season and were relatively evenly matched: Marion has both the 13-12 win-loss advantage and a statistical edge, averaging 16.8 points per game on 47.0% shooting with 9.0 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game to Wallace’s 15.8 points per game on 46.4% shooting with 7.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Though neither player is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, both are borderline/dark horse candidates who merit some consideration.
Regular Season Statistics
| Shawn Marion | Player | Rasheed Wallace |
| 16 (1999-2015) | Seasons | 16 (1995-2010, 2012-2013) |
| 1,163 | Games Played | 1,109 |
| 15.2 | Points | 14.4 |
| 8.7 | Rebounds | 6.7 |
| 1.9 | Assists | 1.8 |
| 48.4% | Field Goal % | 46.7% |
| 81.0% | Free Throw % | 72.1% |
| 18.8 | PER | 17.0 |
| 124.9 | Win Shares | 105.1 |
| 4x | All-Star Games | 4x |
| 2x | All-NBA | – |
| – | MVP | – |
| 1x | NBA Titles | 1x |
| – | NBA Finals MVP | – |
| All-Rookie | Other Awards | All-Rookie |
| – | Hall of Fame Induction | – |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Though both Marion and Wallace fell just shy of reaching the NBA Finals with their primary teams in the heavily competitive Western Conference (Suns and Trail Blazers, respectively), each ultimately played a key contributing role later on in winning a title with another team.
Overall, Marion made 11 postseason trips during his NBA career (6x Phoenix, 4x Dallas, 1x Cleveland), but did not advance out of the Western Conference during his prime with the Suns – the team’s best performances came during Nash’s back-to-back MVP seasons in the mid-2000s, falling in the Western Conference Finals both years:
- 2004-2005: lost to the San Antonio Spurs in five games in the Western Conference Finals; Marion averaged a double-double during the playoffs with 17.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game
- 2005-2006: lost to the Mavericks in six games in the Western Conference Finals; Marion again had a double-double throughout the postseason (20.4 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game
Nevertheless, Marion ultimately did win a title during his time with Dallas – in the 2011 NBA Finals vs. the heavily favored Heat and their “Big Three” of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, he averaged a workmanlike 13.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game as the Mavericks prevailed in six games.
Similarly, Wallace was a postseason participant in 14 of his NBA seasons (7x Portland, 6x Detroit, 1x Boston, i.e. all but his rookie season in Washington and his last year in New York), and experienced a high level of success with both the Trail Blazers and Pistons. Around the turn of the century, he led Portland to back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances, but likewise lost both times, first in a sweep to the David Robinson and Tim Duncan-led Spurs in 1998-1999 and then, in a heartbreaking seven-game loss to Shaq, Kobe Bryant, and the Los Angeles Lakers in 1999-2000. Nevertheless, Wallace would get his revenge a few years later with the Pistons – during the 2003-2004 season, Detroit made it to the Finals vs. the Shaq and Kobe-led Lakers and would prevail in five games; for his part, Wallace was solid with 13.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. Looking to follow in the footsteps of Isiah Thomas and the “Bad Boys”, the Pistons would nearly repeat the next year – in a seven-games Finals loss to the Spurs and their triumvirate of Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker, Wallace’s averages decreased to 10.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.
On the international stage, Marion represented Team USA at the 2001 Goodwill Games (gold medal), the 2002 World Championships, and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece (bronze medal), whereas Wallace was never selected to represent his country.
Playoff Statistics
| Shawn Marion | Player | Rasheed Wallace |
| 109 | Games Played | 177 |
| 13.9 | Points | 13.5 |
| 8.6 | Rebounds | 6.2 |
| 1.4 | Assists | 1.5 |
| 45.6% | Field Goal % | 44.4% |
| 81.4% | Free Throw % | 71.7% |
| 16.6 | PER | 15.5 |
| 9.0 | Win Shares | 15.3 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; while Marion and Wallace each reached All-Star heights with the Suns and the Trail Blazers/Pistons, respectively, both gradually evolved into complementary role players later on in their careers with different teams. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Shawn Marion | Player | Rasheed Wallace |
| 2000-2010 | Decade of Dominance | 1996-1997, 1999-2008 |
| 769 | Games Played | 752 |
| 17.7 | Points | 15.9 |
| 9.8 | Rebounds | 7.3 |
| 2.0 | Assists | 2.0 |
| 48.3% | Field Goal % | 46.7% |
| 81.5% | Free Throw % | 72.6% |
| 19.9 | PER | 18.0 |
| 100.3 | Win Shares | 80.9 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Here, once again, Marion reigns supreme across their decades of dominance, holding the edge in both traditional statistics, efficiency, and advanced metrics.
My Thoughts
Based on their career statistics and awards/accolades, I think it is pretty clear to me that Shawn Marion was a better NBA player than Rasheed Wallace – he was a little bit better at everything, both offensively and defensively, albeit was more of a quiet and underrated jack-of-all-trades in contrast to the bombastic “Sheed”. The more interesting question is the Hall of Fame: Wallace clearly falls just shy in my view, i.e. a member of the “Hall of Very Good” whose main legacy may be his penchant for technical fouls, but I see Marion as a true borderline case. On one hand, his versatile production was nearly unmatched in the history of the Association (e.g. the other players with 17,000 career points, 9,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals, and 1,000 blocks were all no-doubt Hall of Famers); however, though he was an All-Star in his prime and made a few All-NBA Teams, he was never quite a frontline superstar, but more of a great complementary player – even at the pinnacle of his career with Phoenix, he was at best the third option behind Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire. Taking all of this into account, ultimately, I would say Marion is not quite a Hall of Famer in my book, but that takes nothing away from his outstanding career.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Shawn Marion
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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