Blatantly defying coach Scott Skiles' team rule prohibiting headbands, Ben Wallace broke one out to match the Bulls' road uniforms Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Thirteen games into a four-year contract that will pay him $60 million, Wallace and Skiles are at odds, according to the Chicago Tribune.

One night after Wallace played a season-low 19 minutes, 38 seconds, Skiles removed Wallace just 2:02 after tipoff for breaking the team rule.

Is Skiles' worried Wallace' insubordination will become an issue? "No," he said after the game. "I don't know why. I'm just not."

Skiles wouldn't comment on why his rule is in effect. Wallace wouldn't comment on if he agreed with it.

"Man, I don't care about that," Wallace said. "All I know is we got the win."

Asked if he understood why he was benched, Wallace looked downward. "Ask [Skiles]," he said. "Coach makes the decisions. I just play."

After Wallace was removed, assistant Ron Adams went to talk to him. Fellow assistant Pete Myers, Wallace's closest confidant, subsequently followed suit. Finally, assistant Jim Boylan, Skiles' right-hand man, visited him. And, still, the headband remained.

When Wallace finally removed it, during a deadball situation with 2:41 left in the first quarter, Skiles called for him to re-enter. But the turmoil didn't end there.

Wallace slipped the headband back on just before the second half was set to start. Skiles immediately sent Malik Allen to the scorer's table before play began.

When Wallace again removed the headband during a timeout with 5:46 left in the third, he re-entered just 81 seconds later.

At this point, Boylan had taken over as coach after official Tim Donaghy ejected Skiles with two quick technical fouls 56 seconds into the third.