Ben Wallace

Ben Wallace

Wallace with the Chicago Bulls
Position	Center / Power Forward
Height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Weight	240 lb (108.9 kg)
League	NBA
Team	Cleveland Cavaliers
Jersey	#4
Born	September 10, 1974 (1974-09-10) (age 35) White Hall, Alabama
Nationality	United States
College	Virginia Union
Draft	Undrafted
Pro career	1996–present
Former teams	Washington Bullets/Wizards (1996–1999) Orlando Magic (1999–2000) Detroit Pistons (2000–2006) Chicago Bulls (2006–2008)
Awards	4x NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) 4-time NBA All Star 6-time All NBA Defensive Team 1X NBA Champion
Official profile	Info Page

Ben Camey Wallace (born September 10, 1974 in White Hall, Alabama) is an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nicknamed "Big Ben"^[1], he plays the center and power forward, and is listed at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) and 240 lb (110 kg). He has won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times, a record he shares with Dikembe Mutombo. Wallace was a member of the Detroit Pistons team that won the NBA championship in 2004. After signing with the Chicago Bulls in 2006 as a free agent^[2], Wallace joined the Cavaliers in a mid-season trade in February 2008.

Early life

Ben Wallace was born in White Hall, Alabama, a small town located in Lowndes County, and is the 10th of 11 children. He later attended Central High School in Hayneville where he received all-state honors in basketball, baseball, and even football (as a linebacker). Former basketball player Charles Oakley is Wallace's mentor, having discovered Wallace at a 1991 basketball camp, and later recommended Wallace to his previous college, Virginia Union.

College career

Wallace first played college basketball on the junior college level at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland for two years. There, staples of Wallace's defensive prowess began developing as he averaged 17.0 rebounds and 6.9 blocks per game. He then transferred to Virginia Union, a Division II school, where he studied criminal justice. Wallace averaged 13.4 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per game as a member of the Virginia Union Panthers, who he led to the Division II Final Four and a 28-3 record.^[3] As a senior, Wallace was named to the First-Team All CIAA and was selected as a First Team All-American (Div. II) by the NABC. Wallace was a letterman in football, baseball, basketball and track. He won All-State honors in all but track.

NBA career

Early career

As an undrafted player, he was signed as a rookie free agent by the Washington Bullets on October 2, 1996 after playing in Italy.

In 1999, Wallace was traded to the Orlando Magic along with Tim Legler, Terry Davis, and Jeff McInnis for Ike Austin.

Detroit Pistons

Ben Wallace Was with Detroit Pistons from 2000-2006 until he signed as a free agent with Chicago Bulls for 4 years

On August 3, 2000, he was traded along with Chucky Atkins to the Detroit Pistons for Grant Hill, in what was at the time considered a one-sided trade; Hill had planned to sign with Orlando as an unrestricted free agent, but the sign and trade deal allowed Hill to receive a slightly more lucrative contract while Detroit received at least some compensation for losing its marquee player. But since the deal, Wallace has had the more successful career by far, owing in part to Hill's oft-injured status. Since the trade, he has won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2001-02, 2002-03, 2004-05, and 2005-06 seasons, and was selected to six All-Defensive teams. In the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, he led the league in both rebounds and blocked shots, the first to do so since Hakeem Olajuwon. In 2003, he was voted by fans to the first of his four NBA All-Star Game appearances as a center for the Eastern Conference.

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars promised Wallace that when his old contract expired, the Pistons would make Wallace the highest-paid Piston of all time, and Wallace indicated that this show of good faith would be all he would need to re-sign with the Pistons. Dumars kept his promise, extending to Wallace a four-year deal reportedly worth $48 million to $50 million, the richest in team history.

Chicago Bulls

On July 3, 2006, Wallace agreed to a four-year deal worth $60 million with the Chicago Bulls and the deal became official July 13 2006. and Wallace was introduced to the Chicago media as the team's newest member that day. However, during his two-year run in Chicago, Wallace battled with various knee injuries and averaged 5.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 2.0 blocks per game.

Cleveland Cavaliers

On February 21, 2008, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a three-team deal that included the Seattle SuperSonics and the Chicago Bulls.^[4] The deal moved Wallace to the power forward position with Zydrunas Ilgauskas as the starting center.

2007-2008

Following the trade, Wallace played in 22 regular season games (all starts). In 26.3 minutes, he averaged 4.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. In 72 total regular season games, Wallace averaged 4.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.^[5]

Wallace had a Cavalier regular season high of 12 points on February 24, 2008 against the Memphis Grizzlies, and had regular season Cavalier highs of 15 rebounds against the Charlotte Bobcats and four blocks against the Orlando Magic.^[6]

In the 2008 playoffs, Wallace played in 13 games (all starts) and averaged 3.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.^[5] He had his playoff high of 12 rebounds in Game 4 win against the Washington Wizards in the first round of the NBA playoffs.^[6]

2008-2009

Through November 26, 2008 Wallace has started all 14 games that the Cavaliers have played. In 24.1 minutes a game, Wallace in averaging 3.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks and shooting a career-high 55.6 percent from the free throw line. On November 25, 2008, Wallace grabbed his 9,000th career rebound and blocked his 1,900th career shot.

Player profile

Wallace plays the center position and is lauded as a prime defensive presence. He is somewhat undersized for a center, being listed at 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) and 240 pounds (110 kg), a frame statistically resembling more of a forward; he himself admits his actual height is 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m).

However, he compensates for this by his impressive physique (even measured against the standards of his NBA peers) which allows him to out-muscle most of his opposition and "play bigger than his body", allowing him to average 10.7 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.4 steals per game over the course of his entire career. He is especially intimidating with his shot-blocking and defending the basket from drives, allowing his teammates to be aggressive on the perimeter, a defensive scheme used extensively by the Pistons. His uncanny defensive timing allows him to defend with great intensity without committing a foul (his career average of 2.1 fouls per game ^[7] is considered low). In addition, he is seen also as one of the most reliable contributors, rarely failing to deliver in important games.

Wallace's main drawback is his offensive game. While a reliable low-post presence, Wallace's career average of 6.5 points and 1.4 assists per game is considered mediocre. His role on offense is mainly to roam near the basket for close range shots when left open and go after offensive rebounds. Like other big men in the NBA, namely Shaquille O'Neal and Wilt Chamberlain, Wallace is a poor free throw shooter. In fact, he is among the worst free throw shooters in NBA history out of any player with more than 1000 attempts; as of May 2008, his NBA career average is 41.8%.^[8] This ineptitude at the free throw line results in his sometimes becoming a target of the so-called "Hack-a-Shaq" defense (in reference to Wallace, the technique is also called Whack-a-Wallace, Flick-a-Fro, Kick-a-Cav, Pop-a-Piston, or Bop-a-Ben). Part of the reason for this drawback is that his right wrist has some ligaments that were cut off due to a surgery that was needed because his hand had some carpal tunnel issues. This causes his hand to "slip" sometimes when he shoots a free throw, forcing him to pop it back into place, resulting in him being unable to make them on a consistent basis.^[9]

Personal life

Wallace is married to Chanda and is the father of two sons, Ben Jr. and Bryce, and one daughter, Baile, and currently lives in Moreland Hills, Ohio.^[10]

Wallace appeared on the cover of ESPN NBA 2K5. An inflatable basketball training aid of Wallace's likeness, called the Inflatable Defender, is manufactured by PlayAir Systems. His new sneaker, the Big Ben was released November 5 2007 under Stephon Marbury's Starbury label and sold for $14.98 at Steve & Barry's stores. ^[11]

Accolades

Wallace is honored with the Pistons at the White House for the team's victory in the 2004 NBA Finals.

• NBA Champion: 2004
• 4-time NBA All-Star: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
• 4-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year: 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
• 6-time All-NBA Defensive Team:

• First Team: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
• Second Team: 2007

• 5-time All-NBA:

• Second Team: 2003, 2004, 2006
• Third Team: 2002, 2005

• 2-time NBA regular-season leader, rebounds per game: 2002 (13.0), 2003 (15.4)
• NBA regular-season leader, blocks per game: 2002 (3.5)
• 2-time NBA regular-season leader, total rebounds: 2001 (1052), 2003 (1026)
• NBA regular-season leader, total defensive rebounds: 2001 (749)
• 2-time NBA regular-season leader, total offensive rebounds: 2003 (293), 2006 (301)
• NBA regular-season leader, total blocks: 2002 (278)

NBA records, achievements and milestones

• Only player in NBA history to record 1,000 rebounds, 100 blocks, and 100 steals in 4 consecutive seasons (2001-04).^[5]
• One of three players in NBA history to record 150 blocks and 100 steals in 7 consecutive seasons (2001-07) (along with Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson).^[5][12][13]
• One of four players in NBA history to lead the NBA in rebounding and blocking averages in the same season (along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, and Hakeem Olajuwon).
• One of three players in NBA history to average 15 rebounds and 3 blocks per game over a season (along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob McAdoo).
• Only undrafted player in NBA history to be voted a starter for the NBA All-Star Game.
• One of two players in NBA history to receive NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award 4 times (along with Dikembe Mutombo).
• Only undrafted player to receive a contract of $54 million+ from one team.
• Ranks 16th all-time in blocked shots (1909)* in NBA history^[14]
• Ranks 24th all-time in offensive rebounds (2906)* in NBA history^[15]
• Ranks 24th all-time in defensive rebounds (6131)* in NBA history^[16]
• Ranks 43rd all-time in total rebounds (9037)* in NBA history^[17]

* As of December 6, 2008

Detroit Pistons franchise records (15)

• Most blocked shots, all-time: 1,297 (2000–2006)
• Most blocked shots in
  • one game: 10 (November 10, 2002 vs. Miami Heat)
  • one half: 7 (February 1, 2003 vs. New Jersey Nets)
  • one quarter: 5 (March 10, 2002 vs. Indiana Pacers)
  • one season: 278 (2001-02)
• Highest blocks-per-game average, one season: 3.48 (2001-02)
• Most defensive rebounds, one quarter: 10 (November 18, 2002 vs. New York Knicks).
• Most rebounds, one half, playoffs: 17 (Game 4, 2003 Eastern Conference First Round)
• Most rebounds, one quarter, playoffs: 13 (Game 4, 2003 Eastern Conference First Round)
• Most offensive rebounds, one game, playoffs: 11 (Game 3, 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinals)
• Most offensive rebounds, one half, playoffs: 7 (Game 3, 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinals)
• Most defensive rebounds, one game, playoffs: 17 (Game 1, 2003 Eastern Conference Finals)
• Most defensive rebounds, one half, playoffs: 12 (Game 1, 2003 Eastern Conference Finals)
• Most defensive rebounds, one quarter, playoffs: 9 (Game 1, 2003 Eastern Conference Finals)
• Most steals, one game, playoffs: 7 (Game 4, 2003 Eastern Conference First Round)

International competition

He played for the US national team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship.^[18]

Trivia

• Wallace had gained great notoriety in the Detroit area and nationwide, and fans often arrived at his games sporting wigs in honor of his trademark afro hairstyle. However, he usually only had the afro for home games; for away games, he had his hair styled into cornrows. He stated he was made fun of at away games for his hair styles.
• During his tenure with the Pistons, whenever Wallace scored or recorded a block on Detroit's homecourt, the Palace of Auburn Hills, the sound of a gong was played, an allusion to the Big Ben, Wallace's nickname. After Wallace became a member of the Chicago Bulls, this tradition has continued on their homecourt, the United Center and the tradition is still carried on to this day in Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena.
• Recorded a notable block of Shaquille O'Neal on June 1 2006, in Game 5 of the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and the Detroit Pistons. O'Neal was stuffed so completely that he tumbled to the floor. Heat coach Pat Riley called it "a hell of a play", while Shaq claimed it was an obvious foul and told the press not to ask him stupid questions after being asked whether he thought it was a block or a foul.^[19]

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Notes

External links

• Ben Wallace Info Page at NBA.com

• Ben Wallace Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com

United States squad - 2002 FIBA World Championship - 6th place 4 Finley | 5 B.Davis | 6 A.Miller | 7 O'Neal | 8 A.Davis | 9 Pierce | 10 R.Miller | 11 Marion | 12 Williams | 13 Wallace | 14 Brand | 15 LaFrentz | Coach: Karl