Detroit Pistons: Highlights from Ben Wallace’s Hall of Fame speech

Detroit Pistons’ icon Ben Wallace was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame last night and gave an emotional speech in front of his peers, family and former teammates.

Several current Pistons were also in attendance, including Isaiah Stewart (who often gets compared to Big Ben) and Cade Cunningham who will hopefully be the next Piston to lead the team to a title.

Wallace is not a gifted public speaker (I can relate) and his speech is not going to go into the annals of history as great oratory, but there were some highlights and emotional moments that got every Detroit Pistons fan a little misty.

You can watch the whole speech, but here are some of the highlights for me.

Detroit Pistons: Life advice from Ben Wallace’s Hall of Fame speech

Wallace’s speech was motivational at times and took a look at the big picture, not just basketball:

"“My life path has not always been about basketball. As a young kid, not having the ability to speak and express myself, but having a lot to say, life didn’t give me a chance from the start, but I kept fighting, kept teaching and I kept giving back. Life is not all about taking.”"

Wallace also passed on some advice from his mother, which got a big round of applause from the crowd:

"“This is what my mother told me: Stand tall, stick your chest out, hold your head up. Now do it again.”"

I loved this part of the speech, as I thought it was symbolic of how Wallace played in his career. He was constantly an underdog who got where he is by believing in himself and working his butt off.

Wallace finished his speech by talking about his legacy and giving a shoutout to his former university and his hometown.

"“I’ll tell you about my legacy: I wasn’t welcome. I was too small. I couldn’t play the game the way they wanted me to play the game…. but put me on a level playing field and I’ll show you. Panthers march.”"

Wallace walked off the stage with his first raised in recognition of the Virginia Union Panthers, the HBCU that Wallace attended before coming to the NBA and the Black Panther Party, which originated in the county where Wallace was born.

But my favorite part of the speech was the very first thing Ben Wallace said, responding to some of the fans in the crowd.

“Detroit basketball never gets old.”

As someone who has spent the vast majority of his life following this team, I couldn’t agree more. Congrats, Big Ben!