ESPN MAGAZINE

Jackie Wallace is scowling at the TV, where her son is wearing the identical scowl as he turns away from referee Jim Kinsey and slams the ball to the floor. Rasheed Wallace has been called for going over the back of Knicks center Patrick Ewing for a rebound, and he knows the game too well to genuinely believe it's a bad call. He's frustrated because the Trail Blazers are losing and Ewing is having a revival, and Wallace can't find a way to stop any of it.

"Raaaaa-sheed," Jackie Wallace says in that part soothing, part warning way only a mother can, as if she were parked in front of a two-way transmitter rather than a TV. The ball-slam earns Wallace his league-leading 20th technical foul, and he's still not done. A timeout is called, but after starting out for the Portland bench, he U-turns to continue his rant at Kinsey. "Rasheed!" Jackie snaps at the TV. "Shut up!"

Rasheed can't hear her; Jackie doubts it would matter if he could. She says you really have to get in her son's face and let him have it to convince him you're serious. Ewing grabs an offensive rebound and Wallace slaps at the ball, gets called for another foul and howls -- the visage made all the worse by his scraggly goatee and mustache. He is jawing at veteran ref Joey Crawford, whose own temper is legendary. But then he and Wallace are both from Philly, where manic behavior around a basketball is not only tolerated but expected. With just more than a minute left and the Knicks' victory secure, Crawford is standing near the Blazers' bench, directly in front of Wallace. "Good game, Joey," Wallace says. That earns him a second T and a dismissive wave from Crawford. On his way to the locker room, Wallace throws his towel in Crawfordís direction. That's followed by one of his sweatbands.

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