Big Ben during his glory years

Big Ben during his glory years

During the Piston’s glory years, Big Ben Wallace was the heart and soul of the team.  He represented the defensive identity of the Detroit Pistons.  He helped lead the Pistons to four straight Eastern Conference Finals appearances, two NBA Finals appearances and one NBA Championship.  Then he let a lot of fans down by going to the Chicago Bulls for more money (four years, $60 million).  I can’t blame him for that.  Get your money Big Ben.  After his unsuccessful time in Chicago and a brief stint in Cleveland, Big Ben was traded to Phoenix.  He never played a game in Phoenix because Phoenix bought out the remainder of his contract.  Now Ben is back home in Detroit, where the best games of his career were played.  Detroit signed him as a free agent.

Ben Wallace Now.

Ben Wallace Now.

So far, Ben has had a decent season.  He’s averaging 10.3 rebounds a game, 1.33 steals a game, and 1.33 blocks a game.  He is once again the anchor for the Piston’s defense.  The bad thing is that at 35 years old, he’s averaging 32.7 minutes a game.  How long can he keep up this production.  It’s scary that at his age, he is Detroit’s most reliable defender.   What will happen to the Pistons if or when he burns out?  If he cannot give this type of production every night, the Pistons will not make the playoffs.  Actually, the team needs to play better defense as a whole for them to make the playoffs.

Ben’s Career Accomplishments:

  • 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)

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