Ben Wallace is famous—or infamous—for his involvement in the “Malice at the Palace” incident. Fans today remember him more for that brawl than for his accomplishments on the court. Never a scoring center, Big Ben made up for his inability to shoot in other ways.
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Wallace is not a player you’d expect to speak with humorous undertones, but that’s exactly the angle he showed in an interview. Kenny Smith invited Ben Wallace and a few others over, during which he asked the Detroit Pistons man, “How would you fare in today’s NBA?“
Ben started by stating the obvious: He was nothing like today’s big men. Wallace resembled Dennis Rodman more than Karl Anthony Towns. He played during a time when everyone’s roles were rigid, and he did the dirty work for the new era’s “Bad Boys Pistons.” Following all this though, he brought in the uncharacteristic humor, making quite the hyperbolic statement that had everyone in attendance struggling for breath.
Ben Wallace speaks about his ability to change his game according to the situation
Entering the league as a role player, Wallace found it tough during the initial years of his career. In his first 3 years as a Washington Bullet or Wizard, he could only start 32 games. He also scored an average of 2 points per game, but quickly found out what he was good at, was defense. And with all the confidence in his former brilliance, the man felt it fitting to make this eyebrow-raising statement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypA_ASF18_A
In this clip, you can see his confidence in answering the question. Not only did he know he could adjust himself to the game, but he also knew his capabilities. With today’s game being just a bunch of threes being chucked from anywhere, can you imagine a rebounder like him grabbing all those misses? So perhaps his statement isn’t quite as ridiculous as it initially sounds.
All his top 20 rebound games ever are those where he has either 20 or more rebounds. With a career-high of 28, he is on par with the likes of Wilt and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Quite simply, the 4-time defensive player of the year was one of the greatest ever at his craft, someone who could stop even the unstoppable force of Shaquille O’Neal.
How would Big Ben fare against the stretch bigs of today?
When you think of centers today, the names that come to mind are Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, and maybe Anthony Davis. The one thing that’s common with these players is their ability to play from the front like a guard would. Ben Wallace could not do that, but much like his namesake Ben Simmons, he could guard everyone from 1–5 positions.
And that is enough proof to show that that type of game still works. Ben Simmons rarely gets minutes, but when he does, he does his duties to the tee. The Los Angeles Lakers played Patrick Beverly for the same reason, even though he is often a foot shorter than his opponents.
Offense wins you games, but defense wins you championships. And Ben, during his heyday, had a mammoth 4 seasons where his defensive win shares were 7 or above. He is the type of player every team wants on their roster right now—the Sacramento Kings-Los Angeles Clippers game is proof.
No team that had Ben on it let their opponent score too many points. If they ever tried, Wallace would simply clamp them down. In every sense, Ben Wallace was a generational talent, one of the rare types that could play in any era.
