Once upon a time, Ben Wallace was feared as a tenacious defender and rebounder. When he took the court, all you saw was hair and muscles, and quite possibly your shot flying into the fourth row. But now, Ben Wallace hoping to be feared on another court (yeah, I had to make the pun, it’s Monday and I’m lazy) as he considers a future as a lawyer.
He knows the end of his NBA career is just around the corner. Wallace, 36, averaged just 2.9 points and 6.5 rebounds in 22.9 minutes over 54 games last season. But Wallace believes he still can be a mentor to young Pistons like Greg Monroe.
Wallace not only wants to represent clients, he wants to tell them his long-shot story and make them realize their lives are not over despite youthful mistakes. Wallace is doing plenty of research now into law schools. The thought has been brewing for years, and he even spoke to former Pistons coach John Kuester about it three years ago when Wallace played in Cleveland.
“It would not surprise me at all to see him practicing law,” teammate Tayshaun Prince said. “Not at all.”
If Big Ben really wants to intimidate people in the court room, he might want to blow out the afro and rip the sleeves off the suit. Or maybe he can go with the old Irwin R. Shyster look. Maybe he can randomly pound the table and yell “I OBJECT!!!” even when its not called for… you know… to throw the other guy off his game.
Ok, enough of the kidding around. It’s fun to goof on the idea that Ben Wallace will be a lawyer because, well, it’s not something you’d expect. This guy is not what you picture when you think of an attorney. But the fact is, Wallace’s is an admirable pursuit. He has shown his willingness to work hard on the court, and that work ethic doesn’t just go away because the body can’t perform like it used to. That’s a desire that is inside his head, and it can be applied to anything he wants.
When you cut past the Jackie Chiles photoshop and gut reaction to the 6-9″ physical freak of nature’s unexpected next step, you see an actual legitimate motivation: a desire to help young people.
“We don’t know the kids coming up in our community,” Wallace said. “Kids today are facing a different type of struggle than when we were growing up. The worst thing for us was getting into a fight or joining a gang. Now the household has been so torn up, that kids don’t have guidance like we had. We had our moms and dads and even the lady down the street yelling at us.
“If I went down the street talking loud or throwing rocks, I got my butt whipped three times before I got home, and then got a whipping the fourth time when I got home.”
Wallace is not naive enough to believe he can stop crime in Virginia or Alabama. But he does believe he can touch one life at a time. He wants to provide guidance and hope.
“It’s a tough job,” said Wallace, who’s played eight years here. “But it’s something I can do.”
A lot of players just hope to fall into some broadcast booth after their careers are over because they can string a few sentences together and basketball is all they know. But for a guy like Wallace to look at a problem and decide to become part of the solution… well, that’s impressive. He’ll have to deal with the jerks that want to make fun of it first by comparing him to a cartoonish sit-com lawyer. But if that’s his toughest obstacle, he’ll do just fine.
