A biography for Ben Wallacehasn’t been written yet.
“You're supposed to be emotionally connected to the game.”
“Retirement, to me, is depressing. Depressing.”
“I'll tell you my legacy: I wasn't welcome. I was too small. I couldn't play the game the way they wanted me to play the game. Sound like an uneven game to me. Put me on a level playing field, and I'll show you.”
“I like coming back home. Do it every July Fourth. Everybody's cooking, and I'm just being Ben, just Ben, like the little kid I was running around the neighborhood.”
“There are no plays run for your sake as a defender - you just have to want it.”
“It's a great honor to be named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team as a starter. It's great to earn respect from your teammates and coaches, but to also get that same respect from other players around the league and then the fans - that is special.”
“It feels good to just play in the All-Star Game. To be the first un-drafted player to start, I think it speaks volumes for those guys trying to make to the league that there are always opportunities if you just stay prepared.”
“A lot of people think the hardest thing about this game is making it into this league. As you get older and you accomplish most of your goals - all of your goals - you find out the hardest part of this game is walking away.”
“Scoring isn't anything but a different challenge. I'm willing to take that challenge.”
“If I want to be a basketball player and you don't draft me, what am I going to do, quit, or keep going? Knock on the next door, knock on the next door, if one of those open I'm going to go in and display my talent.”
“I can have an off-night on the offensive end, but I should never have an off-night on defense.”
“On the offensive end you can work yourself into a rhythm, but on the defensive end you have to be aware of everything. That's not measured by shots made or missed, it's measured by heart and determination to get out and play somebody. That's how you win on defense.”
“If you dream big and you make it halfway and can find someone else that know the rest of the way you can still get there.”
“When I left high school, I wanted to go to Auburn, and they said they were going to let me go both ways. And my 'both ways' was 'football and basketball.' And their 'both ways' was 'offense and defense.' So it didn't work out for me.”
“When I became king on the court against my brothers, they stopped playing with me. When I started to learn the game, play the game and appreciate the game, I knew I had a chance to be good at it. But the Naismith Hall of Fame, that's not something you prepare for. That's taboo.”
“Carlisle was cool. He's one of those coaches who said his door was open and you went to talk to him, if he didn't believe in what you said, he'd tell you and say, 'I'm not going to do it that way, it won't work.' You can't do nothing but respect that.”
“I think Shaq brings the best out of everybody.”
“Any time you have a coach asking you what you think and what you want to do, it makes it easy for you to go out there and do your thing.”
“Some guys are just great basketball players and they have the knack for scoring, so people just allow them to get by with that ability without teaching them anything new, without really coaching them.”
“I'm an offensive juggernaut. Defense is something I do in my spare time.”