Mitch Albom talks to Ben Wallace

Mitch Albom has an outstanding article about Ben Wallace in today's Free Press. Here are a couple of highlights . . .

On his decision not to re-enter the Orlando game:

"What I was saying was, 'Look, if we're not gonna play to win the game … there's no need to put us out there,' " Ben says now. He claims he had gone to Saunders earlier in the game, complaining that the team was lapsing into one-on-one basketball. He felt his words were ignored. It bugged him.

"It's the kind of stuff that happens … but this time, a couple of writers were sitting a little closer to our bench and they caught whiff of it and decided to make a story out of it. … It didn't bother me. … It didn't bother Flip. … I mean, two or three games before that, Rasheed (Wallace) was having a good night and Flip was … gonna put (Antonio) McDyess in for him and I go up and tell him, 'Man, (Rasheed's) rolling … let him go. I'll come out.' But they didn't catch that."

On whether he will re-sign with Detroit in the offseason:

"Do you look at this as your one big contract chance?"

"I know this is my one and only chance right here. But I don't want to make a big deal of it. … I haven't said anything to Joe (Dumars) about it. … Me and Joe got a great relationship. We come from similar backgrounds, so I pretty much know I don't have to say anything. He already knows."

I read a lot of articles about the Pistons and various players, but this is definitely one of the better pieces I've come across. Not a big surprise — it is Mitch Albom — but it's definitely something Detroit basketball fans should check out if they haven't already.

MITCH ALBOM: Big Ben's last stand? [Detroit Free Press]