Ben Wallace grew up in White Hall, Alabama. Ben Wallace had a hard life when he was growing up.I am a basketball player.I won four out of five defensive man of the year awards. I just joined the bulls this season.I have even won a championship ring. I won the championship ring with the Detroit Pistons. A couple of my teamates are Chauncey Billups, and Rasheed Wallace.Ben Wallace helped Detroit win four straight conference finals.The Detrit Pistons were the first to scince early 1990s Chicago Bulls.Ben Wallace will be sighning a four year con tract with the Chicago Bulls!!!!It's the most unglamorous aspect of basketball. It's more than fitting, then, that it's Pistons center Ben Wallace who was recently named the league's best defender because his entrance into tShortly after agreeing to terms with the Bulls, you called this the “deal of a lifetime.” What was it about John Paxson and the Bulls’ pitch that made you decide to come to Chicago?
Ben Wallace: “It was the simple fact that they came to see me. They came to my house, met my family, and we all sat down. It made me feel comfortable with the situation, knowing that it was going to be tough to leave Detroit. They gave me some time to make my mind up instead of pushing me. They let me relax and think about it instead of pressing me for an answer. They offered me an opportunity to come to a new city and they acted genuine and sincere throughout the whole process.”
he NBA was anything but glamorous. His career average of 2.29 bpg ranks 17th all time in the NBA and is eighth among active NBA players (Dikembe Mutombo: 2.94, Alonzo Mourning: 2.90, Theo Ratliff: 2.68, Andrei Kirilenko: 2.59, Shaquille O’Neal: 2.53, Tim Duncan: 2.48 and Marcus Camby: 2.47)
One of four players in NBA history to lead the league in rebounds and blocks in the same season (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1975-76, Bill Walton 1976-77, Hakeem Olajuwon 1989-90 and Ben Wallace 2001-02)
Led the NBA with 13.0 rpg and 3.48 bpg in 2001-02; led the NBA with 15.4 rpg in 2002-03
Ranks 24th in NBA history with 1,600 blocked shots
Has grabbed 20 or more rebounds in a game 42 times
Member of 2002 Team USA World Basketball Championships squad
Went undrafted following his senior year at Virginia Union in 1996; earned First Team Division II All-America with 12.5 ppg and 10.5 rpg
Transactions: Undrafted by an NBA franchise … signed as a free agent by the Washington Bullets (10/02/96) … traded to the Orlando Magic with Terry Davis, Tim Legler and Jeff McInnis for Isaac Austin (08/11/99) … traded to the Detroit Pistons with Chucky Atkins for Grant Hill … signed by the Chicago Bulls as a free agent (07/13/06)
He and his wife, Chanda, have two sons, Ben Jr. (8) and Bryce (2), and are currently expecting their third child
Watch: Wallace Makes History
Wallace -- who earned his fourth NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in five years, the first player in league history to accomplish such a feat -- went undrafted out of tiny Division II school Virginia Union in 1996.
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