Former Pistons center Ben Wallace is joining the organization as the basketball operations and team engagement advisor, the team announced in a release.
Wallace spent nine of his 16 seasons with Detroit, winning a championship in 2004.
“Ben is a Hall of Famer and a Pistons legend who has continued to come back home and support our team and our organization,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said. “He embodies everything we are building here and will be a real asset to Dwane Casey, Troy Weaver and the rest of our staff.
“Ben helped set the standard for what it means to be a Piston and will be a tremendous influence for our young players.”
The Pistons are in sort of a rebuild phase, with the No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham the center of a promising young nucleus. Saddiq Bey, Killian Hayes, Josh Jackson, Isaiah Jackson and Jerami Grant are other names to watch.
A top-flight rebounder and defender, Wallace was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September.
Per the Pistons press release:
A September Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Wallace played 1,088 career NBA games over 16 seasons with Washington, Orlando, Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland.
He was acquired by Detroit from the Orlando Magic in 2000, spent nine seasons with the Pistons collecting NBA Defensive Player of the Year honors four times (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) and was named an NBA All-Star four times (2003-06).
Undrafted out of Virginia Union, Wallace was an All-NBA Second Team selection three times (2003, 2004, 2006), All-NBA Third Team selection twice (2002 and 2005), an NBA All-Defensive First Team selection five times (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006), and an All-Defensive Second Team selection once (2007).
During his first stint with Detroit (2000-06), the Pistons made the playoffs in five of seven years, winning Eastern Conference Championships in 2004 and 2005 and the NBA Championship in 2004.
Wallace is the franchise’s all-time leader in regular-season and playoff blocks (1,486 and 215, respectively) and ranks first among Pistons’ all-time playoff leaders in rebounds (1,237).
He holds franchise single-game records for blocks in a game (10 – twice), defensive rebounds in a quarter (10) and blocks in a quarter (6). In 655 games with the Pistons, Wallace averaged 6.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, 1.4 steals and 1.5 assists in 32.6 minutes per game.
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