About Ben Wallace (basketball)
Benjamin Camey Wallace (born September 10, 1974) is an American basketball executive and former professional player who played most of his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Detroit Pistons. Nicknamed "Big Ben", he is often considered the greatest undrafted player in NBA history. He is also widely regarded as one of the best defensive players of all time, excelling in rebounding, shot-blocking, and interior defense. A native of Alabama, Wallace attended Cuyahoga Community College and Virginia Union University. In an NBA career that spanned from 1996 to 2012, he played with the Washington Bullets/Wizards, Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, and Cleveland Cavaliers as well as the Pistons. Wallace won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times, a record he shares with Dikembe Mutombo and Rudy Gobert. In nine seasons with the Pistons (2000–2006; 2009–2012), Wallace made two NBA Finals appearances (2004 and 2005) and won a championship in 2004. The Pistons retired his jersey No. 3 in 2016. Wallace was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in the class of 2021. Wallace has served as a basketball operations and team engagement advisor for the Pistons since 2021. Wallace averaged 13.4 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per game as a member of the Virginia Union Panthers, whom he led to the Division II Final Four and a 28–3 record. Former NBA player Charles Oakley was Wallace's mentor, having discovered Wallace at a 1991 basketball camp, and later recommended Wallace to his previous college, Virginia Union.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.