Ben Wallace had more important things on his mind on Monday night than basketball.

Wallace learned Monday morning that his oldest brother, Sam Doss, Jr., 61, had died earlier that morning in White Hall, Alabama. He had been battling brain cancer.

"Ben?s a little down right now," assistant Gar Heard said after Wallace sat out the team?s morning shootaround at UCLA?s Pauley Pavilion. "He said he wanted to stay and play (against the Clippers on Monday) since he was already here, but he probably won?t be his normal self."

Wallace planned to fly back to White Hall early this morning. He said he expected to miss the rest of the trip ? games at Denver on Thursday and Utah on Saturday.

"Seems like this happens every time we come out West," Wallace said.

Wallace?s grandmother died when the Pistons were in the middle of a West Coast trip in 2000-01. He missed the final two games of that trip.

Wallace?s mother, Sadie, died right before the All-Star break in 2002-03.

The team wouldn?t officially rule him out until the funeral arrangements were known.

"I think we are strong enough as a team to withstand that," Heard said. "We hope he doesn?t have to miss the rest of the trip, but we understand his situation and we?ll just have to make the best of it."