An Ode to ex-Detroit Pistons player Ben Wallace
On August 3rd, 2000, the Detroit Pistons made a risk. They made a sign-and-trade giving up their franchise player and All Star Grant Hill for a young point guard in Chucky Atkins and a man who would become an all-time Piston fan favorite, Ben Wallace.
Hill was coming off of his best season in which he averaged 25.8 points, 5.2 assists, and 6.6 rebounds. With his contributions, the Pistons squeaked into the playoffs as a seven seed, but were swept in the first round by the Miami Heat.
After the season ended, Hill leaned toward moving to Florida to join the Orlando Magic, and the Pistons tried to make the most out of the situation. When the Pistons received the second year guard in Atkins and Wallace, the defensive specialist, there was not a lot to be desired.
Atkins averaged 9.5 points per game and 3.7 assists per game coming off of the bench as a rookie, which isn’t bad, but it didn’t rile up fans with excitement. Wallace was a defensive minded player, and although he only averaged two blocks a game in one season before he arrived in Detroit, his presence on the defensive side of the ball kept him in the starting lineup for 81 games in the Magic’s 1999-00 season. And his tenacious rebounding that Piston fans would come to admire wasn’t honed until he found his bearings in Detroit, as he didn’t average nine rebounds a game until his first season in Detroit.
Atkins wouldn’t make a significant impact in Detroit, especially after Chauncey Billups came to the Motor City in 2002. But Wallace became one of the integral pieces that would change the franchise at the start of the 21st century.
Despite his legal troubles, Wallace was an inspiration to the Piston faithful, and just thinking about his size compared to the centers he faced is a testament to how much heart and hard work Wallace displayed each time he took the floor.
Big Ben was 6-foot-9 (he says he’s closer to 6-foot-7), small for a center, and even undersized at power forward against some teams, but he became one of two players to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year four times (first to do so was Dikembe Mutombo).
His career accomplishments are enough to have his number hanging from the rafters at the Palace. He’s the only player in NBA history to post 1,000 rebounds, 100 blocks, and 100 steals in four straight seasons. He, along with Hall of Famers Bob McAdoo and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaged 15 rebounds and three blocks in a season. And he’s still the only player to be undrafted and then be voted as an All-Star Game starter.
Wallace even became a popular figure in pop culture, finding himself as one of the most popular and recognizable NBA athletes. He was on the cover of NBA 2K5. Big Ben had his own shoe. There was even an inflatable Ben Wallace that was supposed to be a standstill basketball practice aid.
Growing up, Big Ben looked like an icon to me. My friends and I tried to guess whether he would have his hair styled in the cornrows or as an afro. We went ballistic when Wallace blocked someone or had his name called before the game, because that meant the clock bells would toll. And when we read in the paper that Big Ben wanted a lunch box for Christmas, suddenly we did too.
But we remember him most for his role in the Pistons success.
Ben Wallace was the main cog in the Pistons defense. He was on a poster that read “He puts the D in Detroit.” The successful Pistons of the mid-to-late 2000’s was because of their defense, first and foremost. And without Big Ben, the defense wouldn’t have been as feared. The Pistons wouldn’t have been the same.
On September 3, 15 years ago, the Pistons made a move that was not so popular. But when we look at the trade now, Detroit couldn’t have done any better.
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