Embed from Getty Images Big Ben Wallace, Detroit Pistons legend and a player who’s number 3 hangs about he court since it was retired received a call from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Telling the big man he was a finalist.
Ben Wallace, a dominant defensive big man who played nine of his 16 NBA seasons with the Detroit Pistons. The prime years were spent in Motown. Wallace was a key player in the Detroit Pistons 2004 NBA championship.
Ben was a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, four-time NBA All-Star. He also led the league in rebounds twice and once for blocked shots. He played with the Pistons from 2000 to 2006 and again from 2009 to 2012 Ben Wallace retired at age 37.
Wallace, attended college at the small university of Virginia Union. He is now part owner of the Grand Rapids Drive. The Drive is the Detroit Pistons’ G League affiliate. So he is still around the game he loves. Wallace is often in Detroit and seen at Pistons games.
During his Detroit playing days as one of the elite defensive players in the NBA Ben Wallace’s teammates coined a slogan for their center. “Fear the Fro.” As Wallace played with a huge afro. The term simply meant at some point in the game Wallace would do something to swing momentum in the Pistons favor.
He would watch. He was would study teams players. Then he would shut them down. “Fear the Fro.” He was so dominant he once blocked Shaq and Kobe Bryant in the same game during back to back shots. Bring Pistons fans to their feet.
No matter that Ben went to a small college. He was a big time talent. One that the city of Detroit still loves. An artist painted a Ben in action. It hangs at Little Caesars Arena. Home to both the Detroit Red Wings and Pistons.
It is the only art of a Pistons player. That includes Pistons greats Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Vinnie Johnson and others. That is what Ben Wallace means to Detroit.
