[Jackson] Ben Wallace: “Hoop dreams die hard if you don’t give the game your all. It’ll haunt you for the rest of your life. People think being 6' 9" and guarding 7-footers was the toughest part of my journey. No, that part wasn’t nearly as tough as what I had to do to get to that point.”

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As he prepares to deliver his Hall of Fame speech and bask in the moment of the sport’s highest accomplishment, Wallace is at peace knowing he left everything he had for the game on the court throughout his 17-year playing career.

“It is an exciting moment for me and my family. … It’s one of those days where it is my testimony that anything is possible,” says Wallace, who turned 47 on Friday. “We all have a talent, but it takes some of us a little longer to find out what their talent is. ...

“Hoop dreams die hard if you don’t give the game your all. It’ll haunt you for the rest of your life. I started from the bottom and became a winner. Some things went wrong and could have been worse, but I stayed on the path. People think being 6' 9" and guarding 7-footers was the toughest part of my journey. No, that part wasn’t nearly as tough as what I had to do to get to that point.”

But the biggest stamp of approval came from his daughter Bailey, who, upon hearing the news, watched highlights of her dad. She wanted to make sure he wasn’t, according to Wallace, “a bum on the court.”

“She’s going to ninth grade this year and she was watching clips of me playing with her friends and that’s when she realized she had something to dress up for because I was good,” Wallace said with a laugh. “I’ve been certified, approved and can walk into the Hall of Fame a happy man.”