The 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame class, headlined by Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and the late great Kobe Bryant, was inducted into Springfield this past Saturday. But what also took place over the weekend was the unveiling of the 2021 class, and one of the players selected had arguably the most unlikely Hall of Fame journey the sport has ever seen. And what a powerful message it sends -- you're not defined by your past, and the future is yours and yours alone to determine.
This notable soon-to-be Hall of Famer averaged less than six points per game for his entire career. He never even averaged 10 points in a single season. He was a career 41-percent free throw shooter, and in the process, made Shaquille O'Neal look like Stephen Curry from the charity stripe. Despite logging 30 minutes per game for his entire career, his career average for assists was just one per game. In nearly 1,100 regular season games played, his career-high mark was 23 points. There were 22 different players this season alone that averaged more than that per game.
To call these numbers pedestrian would be an understatement. In no way, shape, or form should this lack of productivity be indicative of a Hall of Fame career. Yet, Ben Wallace will be enshrined into the Naismith Hall of Fame this September, and become the first undrafted player to achieve this incredible accomplishment. Although nobody saw this coming for him in the beginning, it's well deserved.
The odds were stacked against Wallace to even play a single NBA game. He began his basketball career at Cuyahoga Community College, where he simply couldn’t shoot beyond five feet from the hoop. He may've been listed at 6-foot-9, but he was much closer to 6-foot-7. His work ethic and unmatched hustle on the court got the attention of a Division II school named Virginia Union, where he eventually became an All-American. But, when it comes to selecting draft picks, most NBA teams are reluctant to take chances on Division II players. And to no one's surprise, Wallace went undrafted in 1996. He was offered a tryout with the Viola Reggio Calabria, located in Italy, but was ultimately cut during the process. That rejection led Wallace to scratch and claw for an NBA roster spot, and during the 1996-97 season, he joined the Washington Bullets.
Wallace certainly didn’t look destined for greatness initially. He averaged less than two rebounds per game and one point per game as a rookie. He then put up less than five rebounds per game in his sophomore campaign, and managed to bring up his points per game to a whopping total of three. He did manage to increase his rebound numbers across the next couple of years, and during his fifth NBA season -- his first as a member of the Detroit Pistons -- his career truly took off.
The resolve and toughness that got Wallace into the NBA paid dividends when he joined the Pistons. By his second season in Detroit, he led the entire league in both blocks and rebounds. That's pretty impressive, considering the fact that Wallace wasn't even 6-foot-9. The next season, Wallace took his game to another level, averaging 15.4 boards per game. Only Wallace and Andre Drummond have put up those numbers in the past 20 seasons, and since 1973 -- the year in which blocks became an official stat -- Wallace is the shortest NBA player to average at least four blocks per game for an entire season.
Despite his lack of offensive skills and size, Wallace's defensive tenacity, willingness to sacrifice, and desire to compete allowed him to become one of the greatest defensive players the NBA has ever seen. If not for a career year from Ron Artest during the 2003-04 season, Wallace would've won five consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards. He had to settle with winning four, and matching Dikembe Mutombo for the most all-time. Wallace was never the offensive player that Mutombo was, but he did achieve something that Mutombo never quite could: winning an NBA title.
In one of the biggest upsets in NBA Finals history -- behind Wallace's stalwart defense against O'Neal, the most dominant player of his era -- the Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in five games, back in 2004. The Lakers had four first-ballot Hall of Famers in O'Neal, Bryant, Gary Payton, and Karl Malone. Up until this past weekend, the Pistons had none. The Lakers had three league MVP's on their roster that season, the Pistons didn’t have a single player that ever made an All-NBA First team. When you're an underdog, you need that unwavering confidence, resilience, and drive to overcome the most daunting odds. Wallace, as much as anybody in his generation, brought that every single game.
The atmosphere and culture that Wallace spearheaded during his time in Detroit led to incredible championship success. In his six-year reign with the Pistons, the franchise won 12 playoff series. In the 15 years since Wallace departed, the Pistons have only won four -- in fact, they haven’t won a single playoff game in the last decade. If Wallace’s commitment to excellence wasn’t appreciated enough at the time, the Pistons fanbase would probably welcome him back on the court as a player now, in his late 40s.
It can’t be emphasized enough: Wallace went undrafted in 1996. Eleven of the players in that draft class didn’t even log a single minute in the NBA. Not a single player in that second round even made an All-Star team, let alone an All-NBA team. Wallace made five! Speaking of five, that's the average length of an NBA career. Wallace more than tripled that, by playing 16 seasons. He defied the biggest odds of all, becoming the first undrafted player to ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame. As the old saying goes, it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. And it’s difficult to think of a player who personifies that more than Ben Wallace. Congratulations to Big Ben on one of the most remarkable and unlikely Hall of Fame journeys we've ever seen.
CBS Sports Radio producer David Shepard is a former ESPN researcher, a former Division I college basketball practice player, and the host of The Good Shepard YouTube channel. Follow him on Twitter @TheGoodShepard_.