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Ben Wallace wins fourth defensive POY in five years
B. Wallace Again Wins Top Defensive Honors
Detroit center Ben Wallace won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award for the fourth time in five years, a person within the Pistons organization told The Associated Press on Sunday.
The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the award has not been announced, said Wallace will be presented with the award Tuesday night before Game 2 of the second-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"Is that for sure? Don't get me excited over nothing now," Wallace said after Detroit beat the Cavs 113-86 in the series opener. "That means a lot. That's my pride and joy."
The Pistons said after the game that they would have a news conference Monday for an important announcement.
Wallace joins Dikembe Mutombo as the only four-time Defensive Player of the Year in league history. The muscular 6-foot-9, 240-pounder also won the award last year, in 2003 and in 2002.
Detroit won an NBA-high and franchise-record 64 games during the regular season, helped by the work Wallace did while being honored as an All-Star for the fourth straight year.
Wallace ranked fourth in the NBA in rebounding (11.3), ninth in blocks (2.2) and 10th in steals (1.78) -- the only player among the top 10 in all three categories -- and led one of the NBA's top teams at the defensive end of the court.
He became the fifth player in league history to have 100 blocks and 100 steals in six straight seasons, a list that includes Hakeem Olajuwon, Julius Erving, Sam Lacey and David Robinson.
Wallace scored 7.3 points a game this season and has not averaged double digits in any of his 10 years in the league.
Despite his lack of scoring, he is a key reason the Pistons have become one of the NBA's best teams in recent years. And Wallace -- with his trademark Afro or cornrows -- is clearly a sports celebrity in Detroit. His popularity is rivaled only by that of Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, who might retire this offseason.
Detroit acquired Wallace from Orlando along with Chucky Atkins in a sign-and-trade deal for Grant Hill before the 2000-01 season. The building block for the Pistons' turnaround helped them advance in the playoffs in 2002 -- for the first time since 1991 -- to the conference finals in 2003, win a title in 2004 and get to the Finals last year.
Source: ESPN.com