Ben Wallace Joins Chicago Bulls
At 6-foot-9, Wallace was mostly unknown when he was first came to Detroit in 2000. He rapidly became the shot-blocking, rebound-grabbing, energy-inspiring face of the Pistons with his signature Afro. He has won four Defensive Player of the Year awards, played in four All-Star Games. He’s gone to and won the 2004-2005 NBA Championships with the Detroit Pistons and for the most part seemed happy playing in Detroit.
The Detroit Pistons were not happy to lose soft-spoken Wallace, offering him at $48 million over four year deal. Wallace declined the offer and the Pistons could not afford to offer even more. The Detroit Pistons are a TEAM, an ensemble, and despite offering Wallace more money, they are not willing to make a counteroffer for just one member of the team. Most of the players of the Detroit Pistons were players that no other teams wanted and no one had really heard of. As a whole, they somehow clicked in practice and during games, becoming NBA Champions and going to the playoffs numerous times since they were brought together.
While watching a newscast of Wallace explaining leaving the Pistons, you can see that Wallace had mixed feelings about leaving Detroit and his teammates, whom he is close to. Ultimately, it’s a business and this was a business decision. $60 million, as opposed to $48 million, seems to be the reason behind Wallace turning his back on Detroit.
“I appreciate everything Detroit did for me and my family,” said Ben Wallace. “They gave me an opportunity to make a name for myself and we had an opportunity to win a championship together.”
“I wasn’t going to leave Detroit to go to a team that wasn’t going to be a contender,” Wallace said. The Bulls will be lucky to have him. Despite his lack of skill for free throws, Wallace is always jumping out of nowhere to slap away the ball, dunk a rebound and block shots. Only time will tell if Wallace made the right decision and how he meshes with the Chicago Bulls. “I want to make everybody on this team a little better and let guys know that if they go out there and play as hard as they can possibly play on the defensive end, you’ll get your reward on the offensive end,” the four-time Defensive Player of the Year said about how he’ll fit in with his new teammates. He joins Malik Allen, Eddie Basdenharlotte, P.J. Brown, Luol Deng, Chris Duhon, Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Viktor Khryapa, Randy Livingston, Andres Nocioni, Jannero Pargo, Luke Schenscher, Thabo Sefolosha, J.R. Smith, Michael Sweetney, and Tyrus Thomas on the Chicago Bull’s and retains the number ‘3’ jersey.
