‘He had the heart of a lion’: NBA legend Ben Wallace – the undersized wrecking ball

Despite his limited skills, ‘Big Ben’ will always be remembered as a legend of the Detroit Pistons. His path there is unique – and will probably remain unique. The former centre turns 50 on 10 September.

Hardly any city in the USA has been more shaken in recent years than Detroit. The heart of the American automotive industry has experienced the worst time since it was founded, characterised by decay, unemployment and lots of empty houses. It was not uncommon for the dreaded wrecking ball to roll in.

Nevertheless, there is one wrecking ball that the residents of Detroit have learnt to appreciate and love. It wasn’t made of spherical steel, however, but of an oversized, felty afro. We are talking about Ben Wallace. For almost a decade, he was the soul of the Detroit Pistons.

While Chauncey Billups was the leader of the offence and was named Finals MVP in the 2004 title win over the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers, it was Wallace who held the whole structure together at the back end of the court and defended Shaquille O’Neal as hard as he probably ever had.

Even if the effort could not really be expressed in figures, 10.8 points and 13.6 rebounds over five games are a good indication of ‘Big Ben’s’ abilities. Add to that the fact that Diesel was around 100 pounds heavier and almost a head taller and Wallace’s performance seems even more astonishing.

His game was based on more than just the box score. His passion, energy and willingness to sacrifice himself for his teammates made various other shortcomings, such as his lack of shooting or the catastrophic free throw rate (no season over 50 per cent), pale into insignificance. It was these qualities that made him an undisputed crowd favourite. Probably also because the people at Michigan could identify with his attitude.

NBA legend Ben Wallace: When Oakley drove the hairdresser out of him

In his youth, there was not much to suggest that he would one day become the best defender of his generation. Growing up in rural Alabama as the youngest of eight brothers, little Ben was always inferior. He had exactly two opportunities to get the ball: Grabbing rebounds or stealing the ball.

As a teenager, however, it wasn’t just basketball that piqued his interest. He was also extremely talented in baseball and especially football. However, as the family had hardly any money, Wallace had to work early on. He hired himself out as a hairdresser and cut the hair of all his relatives. The neighbours also got a new haircut for three dollars.

In his spare time, he would try his luck online, exploring various games, including promotions like the Richard Casino free chip, which gave him a taste of the thrill of winning. But it was on the court where he found his true calling, honing his skills in basketball and rising above the challenges of his youth.

Wallace used the money he had accumulated to pay for a camp run by Charles Oakley, one of the toughest defenders in the NBA at the time and Michael Jordan’s unofficial bodyguard. As the teenager was goofing around with a few others, Oakley called him over to play one-on-one. ‘Charles got mad and told us we were soft. He thought we weren’t working hard enough,’ “Big Ben” later reported.

He himself had not yet recognised his talent at the time and, like most youngsters, wanted to dribble the ball, set up his teammates and score himself. His team-mates and coaches were generally not happy about this. It wasn’t until he met Oakley that this changed.

The veteran wanted to teach Wallace a lesson and played without mercy. But to Oak’s astonishment, the youngster held his own. Even a bloody nose and a split lip did nothing to change that. Oakley registered this: ‘I was impressed. He didn’t want to play me at first – and then he played a good game. I could see the fire in him.’ From that moment on, Wallace was on the radar of the ‘Mighty Oak’. He even assured him of his support.

Ben Wallace: No desire for football

At the same time, many scouts came to Alabama to watch the teenager play. Not on the court, however, but on the football field. He was tall, fast and therefore a defensive player with enormous potential. But Wallace himself had other plans for his career:

I wanted to use football to play basketball in college

Ben Wallace

With limited success: a football scholarship with permission to play basketball at the same time? That was out of the question for the football coaches. So it was Oakley who put Wallace in touch with a community college in Cleveland where he could play basketball.

The symbiosis lasted two years until Wallace decided to stop attending the necessary courses. A transfer to a better university was thus blocked. Oakley had to come to the rescue again and placed Wallace at his alma mater Virginia Union – ultimately an important career move.

There, the greenhorn learnt the importance of team success. With several good scorers already in the squad, Wallace sacrificed himself for the defence and began to dominate the boards. In turn, he did so well that he was even named MVP of the NCAA Division II Tournament his senior year and earned other national honours. For a player at such a small school, this is anything but normal.

Ben Wallace as a shooting guard?

However, this was not enough for the draft. Wallace’s name did not come up in the legendary 1996 draft with Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant or Steve Nash. Nevertheless, the Boston Celtics invited him to the Summer League. For coach M.L. Carr, Wallace wasn’t big and strong enough to play power forward in the NBA – which he said to his face.

That’s why he even tried to use the 2.06 metre tall giant as a shooting guard. The rookie was finally released at the end of the camp. The dream over? ‘I don’t blame Coach Carr for that. I was just trying to figure out what kind of player I wanted to be,’ Wallace said in retrospect.

A move to Europe seemed inevitable, which is why Wallace accepted an offer from Italy. But then came the call from Wes Unseld, General Manager of the Washington Bullets (later Wizards), who himself had been labelled an ‘undersized centre’. ‘I was faced with similar challenges to Ben. It sparked something when I saw him play. I knew I wanted to see more,’ the Hall of Famer later looked back.

Wallace became the twelfth man, but saw little playing time behind Juwan Howard and Chris Webber. When C-Webb was traded to the Sacramento Kings and Howard was struggling more and more with injuries, the benchwarmer was finally given a chance. And he made the most of it, drawing attention to himself with his unbridled commitment and delivering double-doubles non-stop.

Ben Wallace: via Orlando to Detroit

Nevertheless, the season was over in the capital. Supporter Unseld was long gone and after a sobering lockout season with just 18 wins in 66 games, the roster was reorganised. Isaac Austin, who already had his best years behind him, was traded – and suddenly Wallace found himself in the retirement paradise of Orlando.

Again he became a starter, again he was convincing – and again he had no future with the team. The Magic had bigger plans and traded Wallace after just one season to build a spectacular team with Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady (Tim Duncan cancelled).

This time, Wallace ended up in Detroit. The Pistons had been first-round fodder in the playoffs for years, if they reached them at all. But this time it was an arranged marriage that turned into a huge success for both parties.

Ben Wallace: Defence! Defence! Defence!

Wallace and ‘Deeeetroiiiit Basketbaaaall!’ – it was to be a combo that fit like a glove on the famous bucket. Although Wallace was clearly too small to play the role of centre at the time, with his two metres and a few squashes – including his Afro – the Pistons put their trust in him and developed into one of the best defences of all time thanks to him.

The big man led the league in rebounding in 2002 and 2003 and also blocked the most shots. Only legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton and Hakeem Olajuwon achieved this form of dominance before him.

‘Fear the Fro’ was the motto for the opposing offences. Wallace not only anchored his team, he cemented it with incredible intensity and sheer will. The 9.1 defensive win shares Wallace achieved in 2004 are still unrivalled in the modern NBA era. By comparison, Dwight Howard scored just 7 in his prime. Consequently, Wallace won the title as best defender four times between 2002 and 2006, only Ron Artest was able to break his dominance once.

Ben Wallace: Central piece in the title puzzle

All-Star Games and All-NBA teams were the result. Jerry Stackhouse even saw Wallace as one of the greatest players of all time: ‘I played with a lot of great players: Michael Jordan, Allen Iverson, Grant Hill. Ben Wallace also belongs on that list.’ The then GM Joe Dumars also declared the big man to be the most important piece of the franchise puzzle: ‘Everything we do starts with Ben. We build the team around him.’

In 2004, said puzzle was then perfect. With the enthronement of Head Coach Larry Brown and the additions of Rasheed Wallace and previously Billups, the Pistons developed into a power in the East, winning games primarily through their defence. The team was in no way inferior to the legendary ‘Bad Boys’ around Isaiah Thomas from the late 80s. The New Jersey Nets around Jason Kidd were held to just 56 points in the playoffs by Wallace and Co. A month later, the Larry O’Brien Trophy was raised high in the air.

The fact that the NBA subsequently changed the rules and banned hand-checking was also due to the dominance of the defence anchored by Wallace. You probably couldn’t get a bigger compliment than that.

The fierce duels he fought with Shaquille O’Neal in the playoffs are particularly memorable. Shaq had moved to the East after the Lakers lost in the Finals, and the two also met in the post-season in each of the following three years. Legendary was the block against Shaq in the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals, when Big Ben cleared the much taller Aristotle with perfect timing and the latter went down not knowing what hit him.

Ben Wallace: Brawl, then wandering

But a passionate and aggressive style of play is often a fine line. It was no coincidence that Wallace played his part in the Malice at the Palace when he pushed Artest away after a foul and started the disgrace between the Pistons and Indiana Pacers. He was suspended six games for the offence.

At the age of 31, ‘Big Ben’ then followed the big money once again in 2006 and signed for four years and 60 million dollars in Chicago – even though the Pistons had won 64 games the previous year. But this chapter ended quickly – it just wasn’t as good a fit as at Lake Michigan. He encountered the same problem with the Cleveland Cavaliers when Wallace was traded by the Bulls at the 2008 trade deadline.

When the centre was passed on to Phoenix and promptly released, the circle was complete: Wallace wore the Pistons’ jersey once again in 2009. But it was more of an emotional homecoming than a sporting one: Detroit was well on its way to irrelevance and Wallace was now a proud 35 years old. The team missed the postseason three years in a row, then the centre hung up his sneakers for good.

Ben Wallace: role model for the next generation

The memories of his heyday outweigh the memories. He was a stroke of luck for the Pistons, a player who lifted an entire city out of depression with his attitude. Draymond Green, a native of Michigan, published an open letter when Wallace’s jersey was pulled under the ceiling of the Auburn Hills arena in January 2016. He paid tribute to him as a role model: ‘Ben had an insane work ethic. He worked every day. And not only that, he had the heart of a lion.’

He made up for his lack of size, as Green does today when he plays as a centre: Wallace was also the trailblazer for the players after him. Undrafted, sent away, and then a star. It’s the story of the underdog that worked so wonderfully in a city like Detroit.

Wallace played 1,088 games in the NBA – a record for an undrafted player. In 2021, he also became the first undrafted player of all time to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. No wonder fans won’t forget their beloved wrecking ball with the huge afro any time soon.

NBA legend Ben Wallace: career statistics