Rasheed Wallace has stirred up controversy after an old interview resurfaced where he accused league referees of fixing games through “secret emails.”
The 51-year-old ex-Detroit Pistons forward, known for his fiery demeanor and ranking third all-time in technical fouls, made the claim in a 2023 appearance on the Underdog NBA podcast – comments now recirculating amid a major gambling scandal shaking the league.
“With the referees, that’s why I was just saying, as I got older, I didn’t have to do all the cussing or come with attitudes,” Wallace said. “Now I’m just hitting them with logic. Like, ‘Oh, so y’all got that email last night, huh?’ Then they flare up… I know about y’all email s–ts.”
He added that he would tell refs, “Y’all makin’ it too obvious,” though he never named anyone or provided proof.
Wallace also described a heated postgame clash with disgraced ex-ref Tim Donaghy, who was convicted in 2007 for fixing games.
“All three [refs] walked by right so I blurt out, ‘I’m going to get my m—– f—- money back from that bulls–t tech,’” Wallace recalled. “I said, ‘I know what the f–k he out there doing. His ass is f–kin’ cheatin’.’”
Donaghy, released from prison in 2009, recently warned that the arrests of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, and ex-player Damon Jones are “just the tip of the iceberg.”
He told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo that more corruption could emerge, especially in college sports: “Somebody is going to offer [players] money to maybe fix a game … and they’re gonna take that money because they’re gonna need a way to support their families.”
Federal prosecutors allege Billups and others took part in illegal betting and rigged poker games tied to organized crime. The NBA Referee Association has not commented on Wallace’s revived accusations.
Ex-NBA champ Rasheed Wallace alleged the refs rigs games in resurfaced video https://t.co/e6g6iOC92F pic.twitter.com/JFG5l9oRt4
— New York Post (@nypost) October 25, 2025
