At first he thought it was a joke, but the Pistons are delivering a late, but worthy Christmas gift to Ben Wallace.
The Pistons are honoring the big man tonight during a match-up against the Warriors. It was decided late last year that he deserves the honor, and at first, Wallace wasn’t sold.
“It was a bit before Christmas when I got the call and I really didn’t believe it at the time,” said Wallace, who played nine seasons with the Pistons (2000-06, 2009-12). “It was like, ‘Who’s playing games now? We’re getting too old to be playing these games.’
“Then they called back and convinced me that they were serious about it, and for me that was a great Christmas present.”
As the 8th player to have his jersey hung, this is a huge honor. Wallace was an integral part of Pistons history as he helped them reach six consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference finals while winning two, and of course, winning it all in 2004 under Larry Brown and defeating Phil Jackson and the Lakers. Wallace, an undrafted player, has accomplished a lot in the NBA, and one can only imagine missing the game that was once a huge part of your life.
“You miss a lot of things about this game,” he said. “There’s no one thing that goes quiet about this game. Everything at some point in time you’re going to think about it. I don’t miss no one thing, I miss the entire game. But I know my time has come and passed”
But, tonight is his night.