When former UNC star Rasheed Wallace recalled Dean Smith picking recruitment over Tar Heels' 1993 national championship celebration

Four-time NBA All-Star Rasheed Wallace is renowned for his technical fouls record (317) and ejections (29) during his 16-year professional career. Wallace learned his trade in Chapel Hill where he played for the North Carolina Tar Heels for two seasons before departing for the NBA.

During a 2023 segment of the "All The Smoke" podcast, Wallace revealed how legendary Tar Heels coach Dean Smith recruited him the day after winning the 1993 national championship (0:20).

"I remember watching them play Michigan and they won it," Rasheed Wallace said. "I go to school the next day and I come home and I've got my headphones on. So, I walk through the door and I'm just vibing, going to my room. Out of my peripheral I see some people sitting in the living room so I backtrack. Oh sh*t, it's Dean Smith, the day after they won and in my opinion, the greatest player to play at Carolina Phil Ford. It was them two.

"I'm like, 'Coach what are y'all doing here? Y'all supposed to be celebrating, y'all just won the national championship. He's like, 'Oh no. It's back to business. We let the kids celebrate, it's back to business.' That right there, showed me a lot, I'm like, 'Damn! They ain't even thinking about the present right here, they're just thinking what's next.'"

When Rasheed Wallace refused to play Michael Jordan

In 1995, when legendary North Carolina alum Michael Jordan was gearing up for his return to the NBA after his sabbatical, he went to the Tar Heels to get back in shape and he asked to play the team's best players one versus one. As the team's best players, Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse were expected to play the former Chicago Bulls star, but Wallace shockingly declined the opportunity.

During a 2013 interview with "Grantland," former UNC assistant coach Dave Hanners revealed how Wallace shunned the opportunity to match up against Jordan.

"Rasheed said he wasn't playing. And it's not that he's not a competitor or anything," Hanners said. "He didn't want to give Michael the satisfaction. But Jerry was up there playing until they couldn't play anymore. Michael won them all. It's just the difference in the two.

"Jerry, I don't know if it was the ego or not, but he wanted to prove to Michael that he was as good as him. Rasheed knew he wasn't and didn't care one way or the other."

Later that year, Rasheed Wallace declared for the NBA Draft and was selected No. 4 overall by the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) where he went on to have a 16-year career.