“Ben Wallace fouled me young lady, don’t ask dumb questions”: When Shaquille O’Neal went off on a reporter after being asked about the Pistons DPOY’s monster block on him
Shaquille O’Neal told a reporter to not ask him dumb questions when she asked him about Ben Wallace’s block on him in Heat-Pistons.
There are only a select few players in NBA history who can safely say that they were able to contain Shaquille O’Neal to a certain extent. Of course, with the way the ‘Big Shaqtus’ imposed his will over any and every defender, it was difficult to consistently limit his offensive capabilities but if anybody was up for the job, it was Ben Wallace.
The 2004 Detroit Pistons squad remains to be one of the greatest defensive teams to have ever assembled on NBA hardwood; holding teams to below 70 points a game seemed like a routine for the Chauncey Billups led Pistons. The man that fueled their defense was 4x Defensive Player of the Year, Ben Wallace.
Shaquille O’Neal would receive a firsthand experience in what it was like going up against ‘Big Ben’ in the 2004 NBA Finals, where Detroit disposed of the Lakers in 5 games. Wallace would have 18 points and grab a whopping 22 rebounds against Shaq in Game 5, while also having the best DRTG on his team.
Shaquille O’Neal on Wallace’s block in 2006.
Now in the Eastern Conference, Shaquille O’Neal faced against the Detroit Pistons in the ECF in 2006. Though the Heat would go on to win in 6 games, Game 5 would give Ben Wallace one of his most memorable highlights of his career.
Up 55-51, Shaq goes up for an easy lay-in when Ben Wallace emerges out of nowhere, not swat the shot in to the stands but, to simply block his shot from his release point, all the way to the ground. The amount of upper body physical strength this requires is simply outrageous.
Following the game, a reporter asked Shaquille O’Neal about the stellar defensive play and the Heat center responded by saying the block was clearly a foul and that she shouldn’t ask ‘dumb questions’.
In reality, the block looked quite clean and despite that, the refs ruled it to be a jump ball. ‘Ball don’t lie’ seemed to have been at play as Rasheed Wallace gained possession off the jump ball.
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