Ben Wallace
Born: September 10, 1974
Position: Center
Height: 6-9 (2.06 m)
Jerseys worn: #3
In the NBA:
Nickname: "Big Ben"
His Game:
Ben Wallace is a defensive specialist. He's rather short for a center, doesn't have much of an offensive game and is an awful free-throw shooter. But through his powerful presence in the middle, his energy, his hard work and consistency he's earned a spot and a lot of respect in the NBA.
His Career:
Wallace was never drafted by an NBA Team. He was signed by Washington in October 1996 and stayed there for 3 seasons. His playing time and scoring/rebounding averages increased every year as he emerged from a bench-warmer (5.8 minutes in 1997) to a valuable 6th man (26.8 minutes and 8.3 rebounds in 1999). He got traded to Orlando where he played during the 2000 season.
The following year, Orlando sent him to the Detroit Pistons, where he spent the 6 most productive years of his career, always as a starter. He recorded career-highs in points (9.7 in 2005), rebounds (15.4 in 2003), steals (1.8 in 2004) and blocks (3.5 in 2002).
He played for the Chicago Bulls in 2007 and midway through the next season he was traded to Cleveland.
Honors:
Has won an NBA Championship in 2004. Named 4 times NBA Defensive Player of the Year (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006). All-NBA 2nd Team in 2003 and 2004. All-NBA 3rd Team in 2005. 5 times All-NBA Defensive 1st Team (2002-'06). All-NBA Defensive 2nd Team in 2007. 4 times All-Star (2003-'06). Led the league in rebounds per game (2002, 2003), total rebounds (2001), blocks per game (2002). Became the shortest player in NBA history to lead the league in blocks in 2001. Became the first player in Detroit Pistons history to lead the team in rebounds, steals and blocks in 2001 and owns a great number of other team records. Holds 15 Detroit Pistons all-time rebounding and blocks records.
Statistics:
| YEAR |
Team |
Games |
Pts |
FT % |
FG % |
3PM |
3-pt % |
Reb. |
Trn |
Ast |
St |
Blk |
Min. |
Star? |
| 1997 |
Washington |
34 |
1.1 |
.300 |
.348 |
0 |
.000 |
1.7 |
0.5 |
0.1 |
0.2 |
0.3 |
5.8 |
No |
| 1998 |
Washington |
67 |
3.1 |
.357 |
.518 |
0 |
.000 |
4.8 |
0.4 |
0.3 |
0.9 |
1.1 |
16.8 |
No |
| 1999 |
Washington |
46 |
6.0 |
.356 |
.578 |
0 |
.000 |
8.3 |
0.8 |
0.4 |
1.1 |
2.0 |
26.8 |
No |
| 2000 |
Orlando |
81 |
4.8 |
.487 |
.503 |
0 |
.000 |
8.0 |
0.9 |
0.8 |
0.9 |
1.6 |
24.1 |
No |
| 2001 |
Detroit |
80 |
6.4 |
.336 |
.490 |
1 |
.250 |
13.2 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
1.3 |
2.3 |
34.5 |
YES |
| 2002 |
Detroit |
80 |
7.6 |
.423 |
.531 |
0 |
.000 |
13.0 |
0.9 |
1.4 |
1.7 |
3.5 |
34.5 |
YES |
| 2003 |
Detroit |
73 |
6.9 |
.450 |
.481 |
1 |
.167 |
15.4 |
1.2 |
1.6 |
1.4 |
3.2 |
39.4 |
YES |
| 2004 |
Detroit |
81 |
9.5 |
.490 |
.421 |
1 |
.125 |
12.4 |
1.5 |
1.7 |
1.8 |
3.0 |
37.7 |
YES |
| 2005 |
Detroit |
74 |
9.7 |
.428 |
.453 |
1 |
.111 |
12.2 |
1.1 |
1.7 |
1.4 |
2.4 |
36.1 |
YES |
| 2006 |
Detroit |
82 |
7.3 |
.416 |
.510 |
0 |
.000 |
11.3 |
1.1 |
1.9 |
1.8 |
2.2 |
35.2 |
YES |
| 2007 |
Chicago |
77 |
6.4 |
.408 |
.453 |
1 |
.200 |
10.7 |
1.3 |
2.4 |
1.4 |
2.0 |
35.1 |
YES |
| 2008 |
Chicago / Cleveland |
72 |
4.8 |
.426 |
.392 |
0 |
.000 |
8.4 |
0.9 |
1.5 |
1.2 |
1.6 |
30.6 |
No |
| Career |
Career |
846 |
6.5 |
.418 |
.473 |
5 |
.116 |
10.5 |
1.0 |
1.4 |
1.3 |
2.2 |
31.4 |
No |
In Europe:
In Italy:
Wallace spent a few weeks in Italy, playing for Reggio Calabria, before joining the NBA and the Washington Bullets.