Greatest shot blocker in each NBA team’s history

Best shot blocker from Detroit Pistons history: Ben Wallace

Ben Wallace was a fairly productive player early in his career playing limited minutes off the bench. However, it wasn’t until he became a member of the Detroit Pistons when he got the opportunity to become the player we know him to be now.

As an undersized and undrafted big man, Wallace truly had to work especially hard just to have a taste of what it’s like to play in the NBA. It was that work ethic off the court that symbolized his play on it.

“Big Ben” knew other guys would handle the scoring load. What he also knew was that in order to stick in the league, he’d have to just about everything else, which he did at an extremely high level. He helped the Pistons to five consecutive appearances in the Conference Finals and their incredible championship run in 2004.

Wallace may have been small in height for a man in the middle, but certainly not in size. Weighing around 240 pounds of pure muscle, leaving his matchup with plenty of bruises and soreness after the game, resulting from his all-out assault on any type of loose ball or rebound there happened to be at a given moment.

When it came to protecting the basket, Wallace’s used the same effort he did in every other facet of his game. His athleticism certainly helped him some, but more often than not, it was simply about the focus he brought on every possession. He understood each one was valuable and had to be treated as such, which meant no lackadaisical effort or giving up on a play.

On pure heart, self-motivation and hustle alone, Wallace became a four-time All-Star, five-time All NBA member, an NBA champion and a recipient of the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times.

He’s not among the game’s greatest players, but during his time, there likely wasn’t a guy more feared for his tenacity. Everyone in the arena knew he’d truly do anything if it would help his team gain the upper hand by even the slightest of hairs.