Quotes from Ben Wallace

Charles Oakley was the first professional athlete that I met, period. That meant a ton. It proved to me that if I worked hard enough, good things would happen.

If you say your door is always open and we can always talk about things and you'll be willing to listen, and when I come to him to talk about something that's bothering me that I think is hurting the team, if you don't do anything to change it, then that's the last time I need to talk to you.

To have my jersey retired, it symbolizes the hard work that I put in, the dedication I had for the game, the love I had for the game.

If it takes someone yelling and screaming in your face to get you ready to play, then you're in the wrong business.

You are not going to be young forever, but my motto is, 'You can't change what I was.'

I think there's guys who are coming out of college that might not be scorers but have the ability to go down in the trenches and do the dirty work. I think I give those guys a little more inspiration to go out there and work hard.

My family has been through a lot - just a lot of trials, tribulations and failures - and we didn't have a lot of anything besides love. So, when it came my time to do something, my family refused to let me fail. They didn't want me to fall into the trail that they followed to stay in Alabama.

There are a lot of good, competitive junior college players, and I thought I did pretty well at Cuyahoga.

Some guys are just great basketball players and they have the knack for scoring, so people just allow them to get by with that ability without teaching them anything new, without really coaching them.

Yeah, I try to tell everybody - I don't think a lot of people believe me - that I'm the youngest and the smallest of eight boys. People don't believe me until they see us all together. I'm one of the tallest, but size-wise, I'm one of the smallest.

The bigger your dreams are, the less your fall is.

It is always something special to be a standout. But I never really look at that stuff. I just go out and try to handle my business.

I had no relationship with my father. He was never around. I met him when I was a sophomore in college. I wanted to meet him that once. I asked why he wasn't there for us. He said, 'I had other obligations.'

I'm an offensive juggernaut. Defense is something I do in my spare time.

I'm not a defensive specialist, I'm a basketball player.

I think fans fall in love with the so-called underdog.

When your team needs you to fall back or your coaching staff needs you to fall back, they're going to pull you back a little bit.

I like coming back home. Do it every July Fourth. Everybody's cooking, and I'm just being Ben, just Ben, like the little kid I was running around the neighborhood.

That is how I live my life always. I just try to improve myself and never give up at anything. I try to make the most out of the hand I have been dealt.

Undrafted, coming in, you're just excited to get a uniform, put you're name on the back, you really don't care if you play or not. You're just thankful for the opportunity.

Anytime you are named as an all-star is one thing. But to be named a starter in an all-star game that was definitely a great experience for me and is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

It's about just staying healthy, being on the floor, doing what you do. That's my niche, really. That's what I bring to the table. And every night I step on the floor, I just try to go out there and be aggressive, attack the boards, rebound the basketball, and give my team a chance to score.

You know, everyone needs somebody to talk for them every now and then.

It's fun to see how the G League has grown and I'm excited to be a part of its upside and continued development.