THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Detroit Pistons veteran Ben Wallace has decided this will be his last NBA season. He says he is looking forward to spending time with his family.
The 37-year-old Wallace decided to come back for his 16th season in the NBA, and he’s now tied with Avery Johnson for the most games played by an undrafted player since the NBA-ABA merger. Wallace can break that mark late Tuesday if he plays his 1,055th game against the San Antonio Spurs.
"Once you get here, you want to be able to show everybody that you’re capable of going out and playing at a high level night in and night out," Wallace said. "I’m just proud to have had the opportunity to come here and play."
The latest undrafted player to make a splash is Jeremy Lin, the guard from Harvard University who has helped the New York Knicks improve their fortunes lately with his dazzling play.
Wallace can relate to Lin because he too had to carve out a niche for himself. Wallace was a virtual unknown before earning his spot in the NBA with his tough defence around the basket and terrific rebounding ability. He eventually won four defensive player of the year awards and helped the Pistons win the 2004 championship.
"It takes a special type of guy to stay at something long enough to make it to this level," Wallace said of Lin, but who could have been discussing his own career, too. "A lot of times you’re being told that you’re too this, you’re too that, you can’t do this, you can’t do that."
He made his NBA debut with Washington in November 1996. After three seasons there and one with Orlando, he was dealt to the Pistons in a trade. His career took off in Detroit. The 2.06-meter (6-foot-9) Wallace led the NBA in rebounds per game and blocks per game in 2001-02. That season, he won his first of four defensive player of the year awards in a five-season span.
"You look at his story. That’s a great story," said Lawrence Frank, who is in his first season as Detroit’s coach. "Not only undrafted, but the guy came into NBA training camp with Boston and they were playing him at 2-guard — seriously. The guy was a bedrock. When you think about the Pistons, he’s a guy that immediately you identify those teams in 2000 on — as kind of the heart and soul of that group."
Wallace has never been a prolific scorer. This season, he’s scored 28 points in 28 games.
After leaving the Pistons in 2006 season, Wallace played with Chicago and Cleveland before coming back to Detroit in 2009. This is the third season of his second stint with the Pistons.
Although Wallace’s playing days are numbered, he’s leaving quite a legacy, and soon, he might be working at a different kind of court. He says he’s interested in going to law school at some point.
"That’s definitely on the radar," Wallace said. "I’m going to take a little time, get away from basketball, clear my head and jump back into school."
