Ben Wallace, Welcome to Chicago!

July 3rd, 2006 could very well be the date that Bulls fans will forever remember.

It’s the date that four-time All-Star & four-time Defensive player of the year winner Ben Wallace accepted a 60 million dollar, 4 year deal from the Chicago Bulls.

Wallace rejected a 48 million dollar, 4 year deal from the Detroit Pistons which would’ve allowed Big Ben to return to Detroit for a 7th season.

However, Ben Wallace has decided to bring his hard work, dedication, and compassion for defense to the Windy City.

This could also spark a new rivalry between the Pistons and the Bulls for the first time in 15 years. Twice, Detroit was in the way of Michael Jordan winning his first championship , but MJ’s Bulls finally got past the Bad Boy Pistons on his third attempt en route to winning their first-ever title.

Chicago had a good team before the signing of Ben Wallace, which will become official on July 12th.

Now, they are among an elite few teams in the Eastern Conference that are ready to contend for a championship.

Here is some background history on how Ben Wallace got to this point in his career:

A native of White Hall, Alabama (population 2,667) , Ben was the 10th child out of 11 in his family. He earned all-state honors in football, baseball, and basketball at high school.

Ben chose to attend Virginia Union and studied criminal justice. Virginia Union would be virtually unknown if Ben Wallace’s mentor didn’t attend the same university. His mentor just happened to be 19 year NBA veteran Charles Oakley.

To this day, Ben Wallace gives Oakley an enormous amount of credit for helping him develop into one of the most feared rebounding & shot-blocking big men in the NBA.
Ben led his 28-3 Virginia Union team to the Division II Final Four during his freshman season. He averaged 12.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg and 3.7 bpg while shooting 50% from the floor.

However. Wallace went undrafted in the ‘96 NBA Draft which is considered to be one of the best drafts in recent memory.

Players such as Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O’Neal, Ray Allen, Stephon Marbury, Marcus Camby, Antoine Walker, Peja Stojakovic, Steve Nash & Zydranus Ilgauskas WERE ALL drafted in front of Ben Wallace.

Ben was signed as a free agent by the Washington Bullets (now named the Washington Wizards) on 10/2/96. Washington featured the Michigan-twosome of Chris Webber and Juwan Howard, veteran PG Rod Strickland, current ESPN analyst Tim Legler and the 7′7 stiff named Gheorghe Muresan.

Wallace saw limited action in his rookie season, and didn’t see any playing time during Washington’s 1st round playoff series against Chicago which resulted in a 3 game sweep for the Bulls.

Ben’s numbers increased during his 3 years in Washington, as he averaged 8.4 rebounds per game during his final season with the Wizards during the ‘98-99 season. He also recorded 2 blocks per game, despite playing only 27 minutes a night.

Ben Wallace was dealt to the Orlando Magic along with G Tim Legler, F Terry Davis, & G Jeff McInnis in exchange for C Ike Austin on 8/11/99.

Ben only spent 1 season with the Magic, who missed the playoffs by one game despite not having a single all-star on their roster.

It was that point that Orlando decided to take the next step, while trading a soon-to-be superstar in the making.

Considered one of the most memorable NBA trades of all-time, the Orlando Magic completed a sign-and-deal trade that would send F/C Ben Wallace along with G Chucky Atkins to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for five-time All-Star F Grant Hill.

Orlando was hoping to team Grant Hill up with newly acquired F/G Tracy McGrady to create a powerful 1-2 duo that would lead the Magic to a championship. Instead, Hill would play a combined total of 135 games in the past 5 years since signing with Orlando (average of 27 games per season).
Meanwhile, Ben Wallace immediately made an impact with his new team. Ben started the first of six consecutive seasons where he would average double-figures in rebounding with 13.2 boards per game.

During the 2001-02 season, Ben Wallace won his first of four NBA Defensive Player of the Year awards while leading Detroit to a 50 win season.

Statiscally, Ben Wallace had his best campaign ever during the 2002-03 season.

Ben would end up averaging a career-best 15.4 rebounds per game (career-high 11.4 defensive rebounds) while leading Detroit to a second consecutive 50 win season.

However, Detroit was swept by New Jersey in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Despite the loss, the Pistons began their dominance of the East for the next 3 seasons.

Detroit had the sixth-best record in the league during the 2003-04 season, but none of that mattered at the end, as the Pistons were able to capture their first NBA Championship in 13 years by defeating the L.A. Lakers in 5 games.

Ben Wallace’s Pistons would reach the Finals again during the 2004-05 campaign, but fell to the San Antonio Spurs in a very hard fought 7 game series.

Ben also started a slight decline with his shot-blocking, as he averaged 2.4 blocks per game. Still, his effort was good enough for Wallace to win his third Defensive Player of the Year award.

Ben was also part of one of the ugliest brawls in sports history, which occured on November 22nd, 2004 at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

Wallace delivered a two-handed shove to Indiana Pacers F Ron Artest (who is now in Sacramento) after Artest delivered a hard foul with 45 seconds left in the game.

Ron Artest went over with both hands up and lied down at the scorer’s table. Ben tried to charge after Ron, but was held back by teammates. (Ben ended up with a 6 game suspension, which he did not appeal.)
Artest then was hit by a plastic cup thrown by a fan, which prompted him to charge the stands and create one of the craziest player/fan brawls not only in NBA history, but all of professional sports as well.
During the 2005-06 season, Detroit wound up with the best record in the league at 64-18. However, they were unable to get back to the Finals as they were eliminated by the eventual NBA Champion Miami Heat in 6 games during the Eastern Conference Finals.

Wallace averaged 11.3 rebounds per game and 2.2 blocks per game during his final season in Detroit. These were Ben’s lowest rebound and block averages since the 1998-99 season, which would end up being Wallace’s last season with Washington.

There was also an incident during Detroit’s 89-87 loss to Orlando on April 9th that may have really shown the displeasure between Ben & Pistons’ head coach Flip Saunders. In a span of just a few minutes during the fourth quarter, Ben Wallace was benched & refused to re-enter the game.

Wallace also questioned Flip Saunders’ use of his team’s defense during Detroit’s Eastern Conference Seminfinal series against Cleveland.
Here’s why this trade will benefit Chicago, and look at how Detroit will compensate after losing their best defensive player:
For the first time since the Michael Jordan led Bulls in the late 90’s, Chicago made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

The results were disappointing with first-round losses to both Washington and Miami. However, Chicago now boasts its’ best chance to contend for an NBA Championship with the signing of one of the best defensive players in the league.

Ben Wallace gives Chicago their best rebounder since two-time Defensive Player of the Year F Dennis Rodman.

Rodman spent 3 seasons with the Bulls during their second three-peat run and averaged totals of 14.9, 16.1, and 15.0 rebounds per game.
Ben has the ability to alter shots whenever a defender is headed in his direction, which will turn a lot of high-percentage looks into misses for the opposing team. Ben is also a fearless shot-blocker and a very passive rebounder.

His one weakness however, is his free-throw shooting. Wallace will come to Chicago as a career 42% free throw shooter, so head coach Scott Skiles will definitely have to make some key decisions if the Bulls are involved in close games during the fourth quarter and/or overtime.

Ben Wallace also brings something to Chicago that most of the current staff don’t have:

Championship Experience.

The Pistons are still a good team, even without Ben Wallace. However, Detroit will definitely feel the loss of the player who inspired the team slogan “Hard at Work”.

The Pistons will most likely shift F/C Rasheed Wallace to the center position, which would allow them to start F Antonio McDyess. Detroit is still a dangerous playoff team, but they have just taken a hit defensively with the loss of Ben Wallace.
Ben Wallace was virtually unknown when he came to Detroit, and now he leaves with four Defensive Player of the Year awards, four all-star apperances, 93 games of playoff experience in the past 5 seasons, and a NBA Championship.

We already know that Miami, Cleveland, Detroit and New Jersey will be strong contenders in the East next season.

With Ben Wallace now in the picture for the next 4 years, Chicago must be included in the talk as well.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are ready to dominate the Eastern Conference for the next 5 years, so it’s now or never for Chicago to make that push to bring this city their first championship since 1998.

The fun begins in October when the team starts training camp in anticipation of a very exciting season to come.

Mattie T

Sports Writer for BMS Radio Chicago

www.bmsradio.com & www.myspace.com/bmsradio