Detroit Pistons veteran Ben Wallace to retire at the end of the season - NBA Update
Detroit Pistons centre, Ben Wallace has finally decided to call it quits.
The 37 year old veteran had considered bidding adieu to NBA at the end of last season as well; however he opted to play for one more year. Now though, he has made his mind and would be retiring at the end of this season.
"No consideration to coming back," he said. "This is definitely my last year."
Wallace is currently approaching the landmark of playing most number of games in the NBA History for an undrafted player. At the moment, he is tied with New Jersey Nets coach Avery Johnson at 1054 career games and if he plays on
Tuesday night against the San Antonio Spurs, he will break the record and make his name in the record books.
Excited with the prospect of achieving a massive milestone like this, Wallace said it has been a mixed journey for him and he is proud of himself for lasting this long.
"Once you get here, you want to be able to show everybody that you're capable of going out and playing at a high level night in and night out," Wallace said. "I'm just proud to have had the opportunity to come here and play."
Wallace was actually praising the New York Knicks rising star Jeremy Lin, when he made this announcement of quitting the NBA by the end of this season. Surprisingly, he and Lin have a lot in common too.
Like Lin, Wallace was also an unknown entity in his first four years.
It all changed when he was traded to Detroit Pistons in 2000-2001. His defensive and rebounding abilities were unknown to the NBA fraternity before that, but during his time with Pistons, he established himself as one of the best
defensive players in the league.
He was never a scorer but still a vital part of Pistons because of his rock solid defence. He went on to win four NBA “Defensive Player of the Year” awards in coming years and led his team to an NBA World Championship in between
as well.
The last few years have been a struggle for him and his defensive abilities have weakened naturally because of his age, so it seems a wise decision to retire now.
Wallace's days in the league are now numbered, but he will be always remembered as one of the 'bad boy' and among the best NBA has produced.
Tags: