Rasheed Wallace Vaguely Aware Of Own Charity Foundation

PORTLAND, OR--Rasheed Wallace, power forward for the Portland Trail Blazers, is vaguely aware of the existence of the Rasheed Wallace Foundation, sources reported. The charitable organization was created by Wallace’s agent, Art Tellem, who does not find it necessary to keep Wallace apprised of the day-to-day goings at the Foundation.

“Believe me, Rasheed is very active in the organization,” said Tellem. “He thinks about nothing else. But he’s very busy with the basketball, and can’t work here full time. He checks in periodically to see how everything is going. Occasionally he shows up and signs some autographs for the sick kids, as long as they don’t have a contagious disease. He doesn't like the contagious ones for obvious reasons, but he does send them each an 8 x 10 glossy signed by his secretary.”

The Rasheed Wallace Foundation was founded in 1997 when Wallace signed a long-term deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. According to Tellem, Wallace inked the deal and immediately inquired about ways he could help the community.

“Rasheed told me he wanted to help people less fortunate them him,” said Tellem. “He asked if I had any suggestions about how he could do the most good for the most people, and I suggested he set up a charitable foundation. He didn’t have time to do the legwork himself, so he left me in charge of the Rasheed Wallace Foundation and we’ve built ourselves a nice little staff here. Rasheed would be proud if he had any idea what we did.”

The Foundation has many functions. It provides financial support to inner city kids, donates money to children’s hospitals, and sponsors a midnight basketball league in Wallace’s hometown of Philadelphia. It is well run and well respected, probably because Rasheed Wallace has nothing to do with it.

“The Foundation has an agreement with Rasheed,” said one anonymous source. “They don’t call him and he doesn’t call them. When they need him to make an appearance, they book it through Tellem.”

Tellem disputed the source’s claim.

“Rasheed is the face of this organization,” said Tellem. “It kills me when people say he’s not involved in his own foundation. That’s crazy. Just last month we arranged for a youngster from the Make-A-Wish Foundation to meet Rasheed. Rasheed graciously appeared via a satellite TV link from his estate in Portland. He told that little boy to hang in there. Unfortunately, his cell phone kept interrupting him. I’m sure it was another sick boy trying to get in touch with him. Clearly he’s spreading himself a little too thin”

It is not unusual for high profile players to set up charity foundations after signing long-term deals. It’s an effective way for the athlete to establish himself as a pillar of the community and to reach out to those in need. It’s also a tax write-off.

“A lot of cynical people will call the Foundation a tax write-off,” Tellem pointed out. “But it’s more than that – much more than that. It’s also a chance for Rasheed to fulfill his burning desire to help people.”

But a source close to the foundation says that Wallace has “no idea” what goes on and could care less about the children it serves. Wallace spends a total of around twenty hours a year directly involved with the Rasheed Wallace Foundation, and most of that is community service.

“Anytime Rasheed shows up in person, you know its because some judge made him do it,” said the source. “When he was convicted of marijuana possession last year, he was sentenced to twenty hours of community service. Well wouldn’t you know it, he showed up for a week straight – four hours a day. He actually had the alarm on his watch set to go off at the twentieth hour. As soon as it beeped, he jumped out of his seat and was gone. The kid that was on his lap was thrown to the floor and had to get stitches. And he stepped on two other kids on the way out.”

Still, the Foundation is a wonderful way for Wallace’s agent to portray his client in a positive light. All media materials related to the Foundation feature Wallace’s face and scenes of Wallace actively participating in the lives of children. Although he has never actually done any of these things voluntarily, Tellem says that modern technology allows him the opportunity to create that impression anyway.

“All those pictures you see of Rasheed playing hoops with the kids or handing out Christmas gifts, or reading to them – they were all Photoshopped in. Yup, every one of them. Usually, we just take the original pictures with one of the staff members and then superimpose Rasheed right on top. The hard thing is finding pictures of him smiling.”

For his part, Wallace says he is completely aware of the organization and takes a lot of pride in it.

“The Foundation? Oh yea, I know all about that shit. They help them poor kids and shit, right? Yea, it’s like a tax right-off or something, whatever that is. But I’ll tell you what the best thing is: Them little kids. They’re great. Some of em, the older ones, they even sell weed. I got some kick-ass chronic off this 14-year-old kid named Poppy. Fucked me up for days. That’s one kid whose family is getting a big motherfuckin turkey this thanksgiving.”

When questioned about Wallace’s comments, Tellem rushed to do damage control.

“Oh, no, you misunderstood. Rasheed doesn’t even smoke pot. He’s totally reformed. No, the reason why he took the marijuana from that young man is because he didn’t want the young man to have it anymore. He was afraid the kid might smoke it and become addicted, as he once was, long ago. See what a philanthropist he is? The guy is willing to take this horrible drug away from an inner city youth and keep it for himself. He probably even smoked it, too, just to make sure it wouldn't get into the hands of a troubled youth. What a guy.”