Ben Wallace was one of the NBA’s greatest rebounders and defenders of his era.
His career ended in the Basketball Hall of Fame, but it began by going undrafted in 1996.
Wallace was a member of the 2021 Hall of Fame classWallace is the only player in modern NBA history to go undrafted and be selected into the Hall of Fame.
That alone tells you everything you need to know about the four-time Defensive Player of the Year and NBA champion.
In a draft class that included Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash and Ray Allen, it was Wallace who ended up being the biggest surprise and steal of the whole thing.
The Washington Wizards signed Wallace, where he played for three seasons before being traded to the Orlando Magic in 1999.
However, it wasn’t until he was once again traded, this time to the Detroit Pistons, where he became the player that went from undrafted afterthought to future Hall of Famer.
Wallace helped ignite a Pistons team that was as tenacious as they were tough. He became their enforcer, their bully.
He helped lead the Pistons to an NBA championship in 2004, where he and his teammates disposed of the mighty Los Angeles Lakers with Shaquille O’Neal and Bryant in five games.
These games were never all that close.
They would make the Finals again the following year, but fell to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games.
Wallace became forever immortalized not only in Springfield, but also in the city of Detroit where he remains beloved and adored.
Wallace anchored a defense that dominated Shaq and Kobe in the 2004 NBA FinalsGetty Wallace and Bryant were both members of the 1996 draft classGettyAside from Bryant, there is a good argument to be made that Wallace had the best career out of the 1996 class.
However, Wallace said that going undrafted helped give him the fuel and fire to become the player he was.
“Once you get over the initial shock and once you get over the fact that everybody has to pay for not taking a chance on you, it’s back to the grind,” said Wallace, at the time a senior from Division II Virginia Union.
“So I went back to the gym that night.
“I was on a mission to let everybody know, ‘Y’all missed one.’ And I did reps on the bench press to everybody’s name that was called in that draft until I gave up.
“So it was whoever – A.I., ‘Starbury,’ Shareef, Jermaine, Ray, Kobe. For me it just became motivation. It’s me against the world now, my back up against the wall.”
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Wallace’s back may have been up against the wall when he entered the league, but by the time he walked away, that wall was in a million pieces.
“Guys that got drafted, it wasn’t personal, but that’s the way I went about my business,” Wallace told NBA.com in an interview.
“I seen where everybody went. I seen what type of teams the top guys were going to.
“And I kept my eye on them from the time I got to [the league] till I retired. I always kept my eye on them.”
He used that motivation to play 16 seasons in the NBA.
And to this day, remains the only player to go from undrafted to rocking a Hall of Fame jacket.
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