John Wallace is a Syracuse legend — a consensus second-team All-American and two-time first-team All-Big-East selection — whose No. 44 jersey was retired by the school on Feb. 29, 2020. In the 1996 NBA Draft, Wallace was drafted by the New York Knicks with the No. 18 overall pick, and he played seven seasons in the NBA.
These days, Wallace is a broadcaster for MSG Network, and he also takes time out of his schedule to support causes near and dear to him. This was the case over the weekend when Wallace appeared at The Hartford for its third annual youth wheelchair basketball clinic on Saturday.
John Wallace Surprises Youth Athletes With Custom-Fit Sport Wheelchairs
In partnership with CUNY’s Inclusive and Adaptive Sports Program, the event featured Wallace and Matt Scott, a two-time gold medalist in wheelchair basketball in the Paralympic Games. As part of the event, The Hartford, Wallace, and Scott surprised 30 youth athletes with custom-fit sport wheelchairs and donated an additional 20 wheelchairs to support area adaptive sports programs.
Wallace gave a speech to the group and revealed that the initiative was especially meaningful to him, as his cousin was paralyzed in a childhood accident that cut short his own basketball aspirations.
“I am thrilled to be here today on behalf of The Hartford, a company that has been an advocate for the adaptive sports movement for more than 30 years,” Wallace said. “I personally understand how important it is to have the right equipment to participate in sports and live an active life.
“Adaptive athletes pay approximately 15 times more for equipment than non-adaptive athletes, and that’s why I’m proud to partner with The Hartford to surprise athletes with custom-fit equipment today.”
Throughout his NBA career, Wallace suited up for the Knicks, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns, and Miami Heat, averaging 7.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game across 381 career games.
His sophomore campaign with the Raptors was his best season, as he averaged career-highs in points (14.0), rebounds (4.5), assists (1.3), blocks (1.2), and steals (0.8) while shooting 47.8% from the field and 50.0% from three-point range. That season, he started 36 games and played 28.8 minutes a night.
He returned to his hometown Knicks during the 1999-00 season, appearing in 60 games and averaging 6.5 points and 2.3 rebounds per game off the bench.
In recent years, Wallace launched and hosted his own podcast (“Power Forward With John Wallace”) and became an analyst and broadcaster for MSG Network. He has also served as a team ambassador for the Knicks.
