Ahead of Sunday’s official announcement, two names of the 2021 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class have been reported: Ben Wallace and Paul Pierce.
Sources told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated that the legendary defensive stalwart Wallace will be enshrined, while Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe reported Pierce’s induction.
It’s a well-deserved honor for both men who were crucial pieces of championships teams in the 2000s. Wallace, 46, was a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and a key component to the Pistons’ 2004 NBA Finals victory over the Lakers. The four-time All-Star was best known for his stint in Detroit where his No. 3 jersey hangs retired in the rafters.
Wallace was a standout at Virginia Union in the mid-1990s before going undrafted and signing with the then-Washington Bullets. While he had stops with the Bullets/Wizards, Magic, Cavaliers, and Bulls, Wallace spent nine of his 16 NBA seasons with the Pistons.
As for Pierce, he was a 19-year NBA veteran best known for his successful stint as a member of the Celtics. After his junior season at the University of Kansas, Pierce was drafted 10th overall by the Celtics in 1998 and quickly emerged as one of the NBA’s brightest young stars. Pierce’s early success led to Shaquille O’Neal dubbing him as “The Truth,” a moniker he carries to this day.
Pierce made his first NBA All-Star team in his fourth NBA season and would go on to be a 10-time All-Star. He helped lead the Celtics to a 2008 NBA championship alongside fellow stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Boston made another NBA Finals with Pierce in 2010 but lost to the Lakers in seven games.
Pierce’s 15-year run in Boston ended with a high-profile trade to the Nets in 2013, which has become infamous for Brooklyn’s massive overpay for just one disappointing season with Pierce and Garnett. Pierce finished his career with stops in Washington and Los Angeles before retiring following the 2016/17 campaign.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Paul Pierce is gonna have the strippers on stage with him
Ben Wallace had a nice career, but does anyone really think of him as one of the best players of all time?
Ben Wallace is not a HOF’er at all and shouldn’t be put in…
I think Wallace is borderline. He was one of the greatest defensive centers ever to play and got rings on that great Pistons team. I think if the NBA HoF had the same standards as the Baseball and Football ones he doesn’t get in.
Borderline? Maybe. If Wallace is in, how is Shawn Kemp left out? Or Anthony Mason? Or Carlos Boozer? I mean apparently we just need to let everyone that played 10+ years in.
I can’t answer that. If it was up to me he wouldn’t be in. The standards to get in for the NBA HoF are probably the lowest of the big 4 sports.
Wallace is way better Mason or Boozer, forget them. Kemp did some things but is mostly remembered for sweating, arrests, and seven children with six mothers. Kemp is what happens when players come straight from HS. Well to be fair he was 41-47 in playoffs, 1 final lost.
I disagree. I don’t think he was “way better” than any of them. Neither does basketball reference, because all three of those players are in Wallace’s closest career comparisons.
It’s not even close. Wallace won titles, changed opponent’s approaches, started the Piston’s run. You want to die on this hill? Boozer, Mason?
Won “titles”? He won 1.
Perhaps he was statistically similar to those payer. But he was the only one of those three to be in any way dominant. He affected games every night. Three time Defensive player of the year (in a row). Six consecutive conference finals as a Piston. Winning means something. Being the heart of a team means something (when it’s a good team). No one in the decade was better defensively. That is a hall of famer. I would vote for Wallace before I would vote for Pierce. Paul was a great scorer on bad teams and one piece of a big three that won one title.
Not at all but this will pave the way for Gobert and Draymond to get in as well.
Apparently Gobert should be in now, because he has practically all of Wallace’s accomplishments already.
Not how it works. And no titles, so that statement was false.
Hiflew Gobert has all Ben’s accomplishments? So what year was Gobert an NBA champion?
2021?…Seriously though, Ben Wallace was not the reason the Pistons won that title. Chauncey Billups was. That’s like claiming Udonis Haslem should be in the Hall because of the Miami championships.
BTW, look up the word practically the next time you have a dictionary nearby. Then look up the word exactly. Compare the two, then re-read my statement.
Billups was great, but that Pistons team won because everyone put aside their egos. Billups, Hamilton, Sheed, Big Ben, Big Nasty and Prince all had huge roles in that series.
Man UTA will never ever ever win a championship!!!
If they drop to #2 this year they will be swept in R1, if they keep the #1 they might have a slight chance to go to R2, so no bad-defender Gobert won’t win this year!
Really depends on how one values defensive metrics. Accolades are ok but box score stats look awful.
my comparison, dennis rodman.
How is Chris Bosh not already announced?!
He shoulda stayed in TOR!
Gonna MIA just to be a third wheel ain’t good enough, right?
For those hating on Ben Wallace… He was basically Bill Russell in modern times.. same size, same skill set, just played in an era where he was “small” vs. Russell towering over his competition. Both are HOFers… Wallace just doesn’t get viewed the same way because of the era in which he played. (Bill Russell was 6’9-10 215, Ben Wallace played 6’9 240)
Bill Russell? You have got to be kidding. Russell is arguably one of the 10 best players of all time. Wallace only made 4 All Star teams in his entire career. Russell made 12. Wallace was All NBA 5 times, Russell 11 times. Wallace won one championship, Russell won 11. Wallace won DPOY 4 times, Russell won MVP 5 times. It’s not even close.
And Russell did not tower over Wilt Chamberlain.
You’re showing era bias in that comment. If Ben Wallace played in the 50’s and 60’s he would have dominated the NBA just as much as Russell did (maybe even more if he had the same muscle mass he did in the 00’s)…. vice versa …. if Bill Russell played in the 00’s era NBA.. he wouldn’t even be a starter.. he would have been eaten alive by Shaq, Webber, Mutombo, Mourning, Duncan, Robinson,
etc etc ec… been having this argument for 15 years… and I can’t stand Ben Wallace for how dirty he was at times lol (and I’m a Heat fan)
And if my aunt had nuts she’d be uncle
1) I’m not saying Wallace = Russell.. sorry if that confused anyone.. I’m saying they had the exact same skill set (they do lol) 2) I’m also saying both are HOFers based on what they did in their careers 3) Bill Russell will always have a much larger prestige than anyone else with his abilities in any era… he changed the way the game is played and dominated his era.. Ben Wallace was just the best defender of his generation 4) Shaq would absolutely dominate today’s NBA and force teams to bring back the traditional center (a la what Chris Bosh did 10 years ago in reverse.. making the NBA go “positionless”)
Russell could score, Wallace could not. Russell was the hub around which the plays emanated. Russell dictated what the opponents did or did not do, Wallace was not nearly as impactful. Russell changed the game, Wallace was a one-way player who changed nothing. No matter what era, Russell would dominate, and everyone (else) knows it; that’s why he’s included in so many top 10 rankings. He transcends eras. Wallace? Nah…
That’s a huge exaggeration regarding Russell, but you could basically make the exact same argument about Shaq in today’s NBA. Do you really think he would be nearly as dominant in 2021 as he was 15-20 years ago? Of course not. It’s a waste of time trying to compare players from different eras. Otherwise Wilt Chamberlain would be the unquestioned GOAT, just look at his numbers.
I’ve had enough of your Lakers hate. Shaq would destroy everyone in any era.
xbx, Shaq thinks only he can legally throw his weight around. For some reason the game’s greatest fame hound became a referee favorite. Now he hangs around studios hoping for an invite.
Dude gimme a break. Do you even watch basketball in 2021? Shaq would barely compete right now, even if he was still in his prime.
Just look at Zion, he’s not exactly tearing up the league, is he?
Bigs who can’t shoot from more than two feet can no longer survive in the NBA. That’s a fact friend, nothing to do with the Lakers.
Zion is not tearing up the league?? Do you even watch NBA? He is averaging 27 with 61% shooting. In 39% of the time he isn’t getting a bucket, he is number 1 in the league in getting his own rebound for a putback. He is destroying people in his second year in the league. GIMME A BREAK
Russell could score, Wallace could not. Russell was the hub around which the plays emanated. Russell dictated what the opponents did or did not do, Wallace was not nearly as impactful. Russell changed the game, Wallace was a one-way player who changed nothing. No matter what era, Russell would dominate, and everyone (else) knows it; that’s why he’s included in so many top 10 rankings. He transcends eras. Wallace? Nah…
if your if was a spliff we be all f***ed up.
There’s no argument about whether or not Bill Russell is one of the top 10 best players of all time. It’s really only a matter of how high he goes and if the best center on the list is him or Kareem.
Want me to prove era bias in your way of thinking? Go look up George Mikan’s stats right now. Guy was a 30-15 player.. but only played like 7 years.
No one is saying George Mikan wasn’t great though. I’d argue that Mikan probably belongs on a top 10 list of all time best centers.
You can’t say that Wallace would have been better back then or that Mikan would be average today, because nobody knows that. Everybody can make assumptions, but that is all they are. If you put any player from today back in the 40s era, you would also have to take away any modern advantages they have as well. Including all the training, medical, and financial gains that have happened. Would LeBron James be as dominant if he had to work in a grocery store in the offseason to make ends meet? For that matter, how many players would have been unable to compete because of contracting polio or some other disease that was around back then.
Conversely, if you moved into this era, he would have all those advantages and training time. Instead of working in the offseason, he could train and get even better.
The point is that there are way too many variables to compare eras. And my argument is that Ben Wallace was not good enough compared to the players he shared the court with during his career. He had a few good years in Detroit, but that was more him fitting the system than him being great.
The only things Ben Wallace have in common are they both are centers and their first name starts with the letter B
And, they dominated their eras defensively. That should count.
I liked watching Ben Wallace’s footwork, always accurate, like Jimmy Butler’s. Like certain tennis players who could get full court coverage without trying very hard. The ball seemed to magnetize toward their raquet, to my loss.
Chris Weber, Tim Hardaway, Jack Sikma, Mark Aguirre, Shawn Kemp, Chet Walker, Bob Love, Spencer Hayward, Bobby Jones, Paul Silas each belong in a Hall of Fame that went many years with a committee made up of college coaches who sometimes only elected other college coaches. The rules changes of recent years have changed the composition but many greats from the 20th century continue to go unrecognized.
Chet Walker made it in in 2012 with Ralph Sampson and Jamaal Wilkes, so there’s some wide recognition there. Sikma made it in 2019 (and did win a title with Seattle, unlike Kemp or Haywood). None are clearly good enough, though I was going to say Walker was before checking.
“Greats?”. HOFs always exclude most.
Add Marques Johnson to that
Those that have an issue with Ben getting in I assume never watched him on a nightly basis and that’s fair. But, he was a game changer…the things he did and the people he shut down at his size should not be underestimated.
Luke how do I unmute? Sorry if I push buttons wrong. This Fire is balky.
Yeah, I was wondering that myself. Accidentally muted someone and know can’t figure out how to unmute.
My interface looks different so I’m not 100% sure, but this is from hiflew:
“Somebody tell him to go into “Update your profile” in the top right corner. I think I was the one he muted. I don’t know if I am the one he wants unmuted or not, but hope I can help.”
LOL
Somebody tell him to go into “Update your profile” in the top right corner. I think I was the one he muted. I don’t know if I am the one he wants unmuted or not, but hope I can help.
Ahhh, thanks, dude.
Thanks. Dierkes told me after I looked under “contact us”.
Pierce and Webber may have been great players, but they’re both terrible analysts.
No one gets elected as an “ex-player analyst”. If they scooped ice cream instead, the same would apply. Irrelevant.
With the standards so low, that’s why you get players like Webber, McGrady, Bosh and Wallace in the Hall.
I guess my standards are low then, too, because all of them are HoF in my book.