Top 5 centers in Detroit Pistons history

Ben Wallace

Ben Wallace has a legitimate claim to being the best defender of all time.

That might seem like an outlandish claim, but when you win four defensive player of the year awards in five years you’ve earned the right to be in the conversation.

The fact that he came second in 2004 and was incredibly close to being the best defensive player for half a decade straight is mind boggling.

It becomes all the more impressive when you consider Wallace was just 6’9″–and it’s suggested he was possibly even closer to 6’7″–making him smaller than many power forwards and even some small forwards.

We all marvel at Drummond’s rebounding ability, but Wallace had the same skill set as well as being a shut down defender who blocked almost any shot that came his way.

To average 2.8 blocks per game over six season is an incredible achievement.

Unfortunately, what prevented Wallace from becoming even greater and the best center in Pistons history is that his offensive game was non-existent.

Wallace was able to dunk the ball and that’s pretty much it, which meant the Pistons were essentially playing with four players on offence. That makes winning championships incredibly hard.

His all time great defence more than made up for these deficiencies though, and is a major reason why a lot of people look back on the mid 2000s Pistons with great fondness and admiration.