By JOHN DENTON
Florida Today

ATLANTA - It was both the best time of his professional life and the worst time of his personal life this week for Detroit Pistons' center Ben Wallace.

Wallace didn't arrive in Atlanta for the NBA All-Star game until Saturday night following the death of his mother, Sadie Wallace, in White Hall, Ala. Wallace attended the funeral services on Saturday, but said that he never considered not playing in the All-Star game. The 10th of 11 children, Wallace said his mother would have wanted him playing in the biggest game of his career.

"My mom lived a great life and she's shining down on me right now," said Wallace, a former Orlando Magic player who was traded to Detroit in 2000. "We were blessed to have her around as long as we did. She raised 11 children and didn't lose a one of them to any nonsense in the world. She would want us to continue working hard and do our jobs."

Wallace's job in Detroit is doing the dirty work that makes him simultaneously one of the NBA's most respected and feared players. A season after becoming just the fifth player in league history to lead the league in rebounding and blocked shots, the 6-foot-9 Wallace is first in rebounds (14.5) and second in blocks (2.93) this season. On his wristbands, Wallace has the initials "NFZ," meaning No Fly Zone.

He is just the second non-drafted player to ever become an All-Star and the first to start the game. That, he admitted, makes this moment even more special.

"I want to do well in the All-Star game for all the guys out there who never got drafted and never got a chance in this league. I want to work hard for the blue-collar player who never got credit. I want to keep letting guys know that anything is possible with hard work."

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One of the funniest spats of All-Star week came between Phoenix point guard Stephon Marbury and New Jersey small forward Richard Jefferson. Marbury was already in the headlines because of his strained relationship with Minnesota forward Kevin Garnett. The two were teammates Sunday for the first time since Marbury forced his way out of Minnesota in 1998.

Jefferson, who competed in the rookie-sophomore game and the Slam-Dunk competition, took an unintentional swipe at Marbury while complimenting rookie sensation Amare Stoudemire. Said Jefferson: "Without Amare, Shawn Marion and Stephon Marbury would not be All-Stars. They've got similar numbers to last year, but they've got a beast down there who can get a double-double. Without him, they'd be a .500 team and they wouldn't be All-Stars."

Marbury's response? "Richard Jefferson needs to really start keeping his mouth closed. He's all right. But he's not a guy who is a dominant presence in this league, No. 1. No. 2, he's probably here because of the way they're playing. If he wasn't playing with Jason Kidd and the guys he's playing with, I don't think he'd be one of the guys you'd be looking to."

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Conspicuously absent from the All-Star weekend in Atlanta was Orlando Magic coach Doc Rivers, a former Hawks great. Rivers' likeness was plastered all over the city along with other Atlanta greats, but the coach remained in Central Florida this weekend to watch his son's prep basketball games at Winter Park High School. Rivers, who played in the 1988 All-Star game, has an idea of one way to spice up the competitiveness of the All-Star game. Said Rivers: "Make it winner-take-all. The players don't really care about the money, but if it's winner-take-all, they will fight you for a buck. That would make players take the game more seriously."

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Michael Jordan said he has no political aspirations, unlike contemporaries such as Charles Barkley, who has talked about being governor of Alabama, and Magic Johnson, who has talked about being mayor of Los Angeles. Jordan jokingly said he'd rather not have people digging around his private life. "I tell you, all those guys, we've all got damage in our closets," Jordan said.

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It's the NBA All-Star Game - the hottest ticket in all of sports Sunday with Jordan saying farewell - and not surprisingly all the seats inside of Philips Arena were full with fans. Well, technically they were full. The NBA and TNT worked in conjunction to hire "fillers," locals who sat in empty seats when ticket holders headed off to the concession stands or the restrooms. The dozens of "fillers" were moved throughout the arena throughout the night to give the appearance of a full house. "I feel like I've never been more qualified for a job than this one," Atlanta's Tobin Turner said.