Why Ben Wallace Is A SureFire Hall Of Famer

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In sports when we think of hall of fame players it’s usually guys who were flashy or electrified the crowd on the offensive end for many years while producing at a high level. In basketball it’s no different, it’s usually the guys who average 20 points per game or more and win lots of scoring titles that capture our attention with players such as Michael Jordan, Alex English and George Gervin. These guys were silky smooth scorers and would demand the attention of even the most uneducated basketball fans. What about the guys who lack flash? The guy who dominates the game on the defensive end and built his game by rebounding and blocking shots at a prolific rate. The guy whose game was built on blue-collar and max effort. I always feel like those guys get overlooked when it comes to stuff like the hall of fame but when you have as much hardware as Detroit Pistons great Ben Wallace then its kind of hard to ignore any hall of fame consideration.

When I look at guys who are or should be hall of famers I look for a player that was either very dominant at a certain facet of the game or impacted winning at a very high level in his career like Robert Horry.When you look at Ben Wallace you’re looking at the closest thing to Dennis Rodman except he has 4 defensive player of the year awards. These guys are supposed to dominate the game at a high level and play their best basketball when it matters most, Wallace did that as well (see 2004 NBA Finals). So I’m going to educate the masses why Big Ben should earn his spot in Springfield, no questions asked.

When you speak about prime Ben Wallace then you’re speaking about a player who displayed some very exceptional defense and put his name in the same breath as some of the greatest players to ever play this game. If you’re not aware of the magnitude of Wallace’s defensive prowess please consider the following statistic. Since the 1973-74 season when the NBA created the defensive rating stat to measure an individual players level of defense only 5 players have led the NBA in defensive rating 3 times or more. Those players are Tim Duncan (2004-2007, 2012-2013), Hakeem Olajuwon (1985-1990), David Robinson (1991-1992, 1995-1996, 1997-2000), Dwight Howard (2008-2011) and finally Ben Wallace (2001-2004). That’s some pretty elite company right there and even though he was never half the offensive player any of those guys were when it comes down to rebounding, defense and rim protection he is as good if not better than all of those guys and that’s saying something because all of those guys he’s mentioned with are all-time greats.

While he was just a notch below Dennis Rodman in the rebounding department, Ben Wallace blows Rodman out when it comes to rim protection and blocking shots. Rodman never averaged 1 block per game while Ben Wallace averaged 3 blocked shots for three consecutive seasons (2001-2004). At the turn of the new millennium basketball was moving in a new direction and new faces were taking over the game. From the year 2000 to now in 2014 no player has produced in the rebounding department quite like Ben Wallace. In fact Ben Wallace owns the greatest rebounding season of the 21st century, he averaged 15.4 rebounds in 2002-2003. The only guy in the last 15 years who has even sniffed Ben Wallace was Kevin Love when he averaged 15.2 rebounds in during the 2010-2011 season. People were enamored by that but you see not only would Wallace give you that kind of rebounding but he would also give you the best rim protection in the NBA.

Wallace by no means is a stat whore though, his defensive impact made other players on his team better he was the anchor. Wallace’s impact isn’t only in his own numbers but the in the Detroit Pistons team defensive numbers as a whole. If you go on basketball reference and look at statistics such as lowest opponent points per game in a season, most consecutive games with fewer than 100 points allowed in a season and fewest points allowed in a game I guarantee you will find a Ben Wallace led Pistons team in their. In fact they are near the top of nearly all of those categories I just named. In fact the 2003-2004 Pistons rank 3rd in NBA history allowing only 84.26 points per game. The 2003-2004 Pistons also own 2 of the top 3 highest streaks for most games holding opponents under 100 points per game. they rank 1st and 3rd in NBA history by holding opponents to 38 games under 100 points and 31 games holding opponents under 100 points. Do the math, that season the Pistons held teams under 100 points in 69 of their 82 regular season games which is unheard of. Those teams were great and if you don’t believe in the numbers then watch the film of them forcing the Bucks into 24 turnovers in the first round of the 2004 playoffs, Ben Wallace was everywhere playing passing lanes and taking charges.

Ben Wallace makes other players better on the defensive end of the floor his lateral foot speeds allowed him to play passing lanes like very few big men in the league ever have. The date was November 16th, 2002 defensive history was made that night in at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Detroit Pistons held the Nuggets to a very miniscule 54 points, that was the 2nd least in NBA history for a single game. Ben Wallace that night collected 13 rebounds, 2 points, 1 steal and 1 block with a +16 plus/minus rating which was the highest of any starter that night. It’s a very overlooked performance but a historic one none the less.

In 2004 the Detroit Pistons brought the city its first title since the Bad Boys did in 1990. They beat the Shaquille O’Neal-Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles Lakers very soundly in 5 games. In those NBA Playoffs Ben Wallace averaged 10.3 points, 14.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks for the Pistons. In the very last game of that series Wallace made sure he was playing his best basketball. 18 points, 22 rebounds (10 offensive/12 defensive), 3 steals, 1 block in 41 minutes of action for the Pistons. All of those numbers came against arguably the most dominant center of all-time in Shaquille O’Neal who was a virtual non-factor on the boards. Wallace at 6’9 was 4 inches and 85 pounds smaller than Shaq yet he out rebounded him by 14, that’s one of the more underrated performances in NBA Finals history.

No matter how you spin it the fact of the matter is that Ben Wallace was a small forwards height yet he was defensively dominating the center position and has 4 defensive player of the year awards to show for it. His 4 DPOY’s are tied for the most in NBA history along with Dikembe Mutombo and if we are honest with ourselves he should have won it in 2003-2004 over Ron Artest. He should have the most defensive player of the year awards in NBA history but thats a discussion for another time. The fact of the matter is he was very undersized at the center position and managed to dominate it from a defensive standpoint like few people ever have. It may have only been 5-7 years of great basketball but they call for hall of fame consideration, the proof is in the pudding, do you’re research people.