Paul Pierce, Doug Collins, Michael Cooper and Lauren Jackson headline the group of first-time nominees for the 2021 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class, announced Tuesday on ESPN’s The Jump. Also joining the first-time group is Howard Garfinkel, Lou Henson, Val Ackerman and Yolanda Griffith, to go with popular returning candidates Chauncey Billups, Chris Bosh, Richard Hamilton, Becky Hammon, Swin Cash and Ben Wallace.
Ben Wallace Rumors
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Ben Wallace
Position: -
Born: 09/10/74
Height: 6-9 / 2.06
Weight:240 lbs. / 108.9 kg.
Earnings: $87,800,795 ($114,173,907*)
Born: 09/10/74
Height: 6-9 / 2.06
Weight:240 lbs. / 108.9 kg.
Earnings: $87,800,795 ($114,173,907*)
Is Ben Wallace a Naismith Hall of Famer? “Absolutely,” Isiah Thomas tells me. “Every Piston is a Hall of Famer! I mean, if real is real, right? You look at what the Pistons championship teams have done, who we are and the sacrifices that we made to be the best team. If you’re talking about rewarding teams and you’re talking about rewarding individuals for being champions, then you’re talking about Ben Wallace, Bill Lambeer – both of them are Hall of Famers.”
Jason died in 2005 at 28 years old, four months before Ella’s second birthday. Jason, whose 7-foot frame allowed him to go toe-to-toe with NBA greats such as Shaquille O’Neal and Ben Wallace, died of an enlarged heart. “I would have been 2 that January,” Ella said. “I was young, so I don’t remember anything, but I have my whole family to tell me memories and stuff.”
Jonathan Feigen: As much attention is paid to the Rockets’ move to small ball, more should go to the guy they got in the deal. Robert Covington is 1st player with at least 21 steals and 12 block shots in first 8 games of a postseason since Ben Wallace in 2004, also making 51 % of his 3s.
Growing up in White Hall, Alabama, the 45-year-old former Piston saw firsthand what racism and inequality look like. More importantly, he also remembers how it made him feel. “There was a swimming pool in our community, that we as black kids weren’t allowed to swim in,” he remembers. “I know how it can affect not only one race but all races.”
Wallace knows we’re still a long way from figuring it all out. However, he’s confident that as long as people are willing to listen and work together, racial injustice will be a thing of the past and full equality in the United States will be here to stay. “We’ve got to pull together and show our people as a whole, we can put aside our differences, and come together, and work together as one unit and as a team,” Wallace says.
