Nicknamed "Big Ben", he is often regarded as the greatest undrafted player in NBA history,[1][2][3] and was known for his shot-blocking, rebounding, and overall defensive play.

Wallace shares the record for most NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards with Rudy Gobert and Dikembe Mutombo, with four.

Wallace won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times, a record he shares with Dikembe Mutombo and Rudy Gobert.

Ben Camey Wallace was born on September 10, 1974, in White Hall, Alabama, a small town in Lowndes County.

He attended Central High School in Hayneville where he received all-state honors in basketball, baseball, and football (as a linebacker).

The Pistons won 50 games and the Central Division, and would defeat the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs before falling to the Paul Pierce-led Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals.

The Pistons won 50 games and the Central Division again, and defeated Orlando in a grueling seven-game first-round series that included coming back from a 3–1 deficit.

In the playoffs, the Pistons handily defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the first round, before facing New Jersey for the second straight year.

The Pistons would then face the Jermaine O'Neal and Ron Artest-led, league-leading Indiana Pacers, and the two teams traded wins in the first four games.

Among players with a comparable number of games and minutes played, both of these marks are the lowest individual defensive ratings posted in a regular season[7] or playoffs.

The Conference Finals would feature a matchup with the resurgent Miami Heat, who had acquired Shaquille O'Neal from the Lakers, and were led in scoring by Dwyane Wade.

This time in the Finals, Detroit would face the San Antonio Spurs, led by superstar Tim Duncan, and international players such as Tony Parker and Manu Ginóbili.

Wallace's production fell significantly as compared to previous seasons in the playoffs, as he only averaged 4.7 points per game, 10.5 rebounds and just 1.2 blocks.

In the off-season, he would test free agency and eventually signed with the younger Chicago Bulls, thereby ending an era of Detroit Pistons basketball which had relied on him as a defensive and rebounding anchor.

[18] Chicago Bulls coach Scott Skiles had a strict "no-headband" policy, but decided to make an exception for Wallace when his teammates voted in favor of allowing him to keep the signature headband.

[19] Wallace continued to be relied upon as a defensive stopper and rebounder, as the Bulls already featured scoring from Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, and Luol Deng.

The series would mark the fourth straight year that Wallace faced off with Shaquille O'Neal in the playoffs, and while the Heat were more experienced they also had played an inconsistent regular season with Dwyane Wade missing games due to injury.

The Bulls on the other hand were ready to take on the older Heat, and shocked Miami with a four-game sweep with an average win margin of 11 points.

During his nearly two-year run in Chicago, Wallace battled with various knee injuries and averaged 5.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 2.0 blocks per game.

[20] The Cavaliers already featured Zydrunas Ilgauskas as the team's starting center, so coach Mike Brown moved Wallace to the power forward position.

[21] On June 25, 2009, Wallace was traded to the Phoenix Suns with Sasha Pavlović, a second-round draft pick and $500,000 for Shaquille O'Neal.

On December 22, 2010, in a 115–93 road win over the Toronto Raptors, Wallace played his 1,000th game and became the 95th player in NBA history to achieve this record.

[28] Even though his height was more suited for the power forward position, he primarily played as center due to his size, strength and athleticism.

His sneaker, the Big Ben, was released on November 5, 2007, under Stephon Marbury's Starbury label and sold for US$14.98 ($22.01 with inflation) at Steve & Barry's stores.

[44] In March 2014, Wallace was sentenced to a year of jail, with all but two days suspended, after he pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident in Richmond, Virginia, on February 8, 2014.

Wallace stated: "Cannabis has helped me safely relieve the aches and pains and different stressors that have built up from the many years as an athlete.

There's no denying that marijuana has a healing upside for athletes or anyone struggling with pain — so alongside launching the Undrafted brand, the Rair team and I will continue to push to end this stigma associated with cannabis use.