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Throwback Thursday: Richard Hamilton and His Time in Detroit

By Gwen De Young

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Mar 30, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Connecticut Huskies former player Richard Hamilton during the game against the Michigan State Spartans in the finals of the east regional of the 2014 NCAA Mens Basketball Championship tournament at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Going further back than 10 years should really become a requirement for these throwback Thursday post. Yet, this week we look at someone who meant a lot to Detroit Pistons basketball, Richard Hamilton, or Rip as he was known by most, who played for the team from 2002 to 2011. While with Detroit Hamilton won a NBA title and was a fan favorite to many in Detroit.

Hamilton started his NBA career not with the Detroit Pistons, but with the Washington Wizards. He was drafted by the Wizards 7th overall in the 1999 draft and played with them until 20002. Before he was in the NBA Hamilton played his college basketball at the University of Connecticut where he won the 1999 NCAA tournament and was also named Most Outstanding Player for Connecticut for the tournament.

When 2002 rolled around the Washington Wizards made the choice to trade Hamilton to Detroit that turned into a 6 player deal between the two teams. The two main pieces though in the trade where Hamilton and all-star Jerry Stackhouse. The Detroit Pistons also got Chauncey Billups and drafted Tayshaun Prince in that years draft and the power house that was the early 2000 Detroit Pistons were coming together.

2004 and 2005 were to of the most successful seasons for Hamilton and the Pistons. In 2004 the team won the NBA championship beating the Lakers 4-1 in the series. Then in the following season the Pistons made it back to the NBA finals but fell short getting beat by the

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San Antonio Spurs team that included Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili in a close 4-3 series.  Through the 2005 playoffs Hamilton averaged 20 points and was playing some of his best basketball.

After the 2005 season Hamilton and the Pistons saw three more conference trips before the big 2009 break up that sent Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson and then the Detroit Pistons saw some bad times and bad basketball as the nonsense that was Iverson was here.

In 2011 the Pistons bought out Hamilton’s contract and so he became free to sign with anyone he wanted and he found his way to Chicago with the Bulls. Rip signed a 3 year 15 million dollar contract which had a team option in the third year. While with the

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Bulls Hamilton played fairly well averaging 11.6 points per game in his first year and then dropping down to 9.8 PPG the next season. He made it back to the playoffs but his hopes of winning another title were dashed by the “super” team that was LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

in 2013 the Bulls waived Hamilton and the reason he is the throwback Thursday entry is because today he announced that he was retiring from the NBA on the ESPN program His and Hers.

Hamilton ended up playing 14 season in the NBA and was seen as one of the nice guys in the NBA. He was infamous for wearing his plastic facemask after he had broken his nose twice that season. Growing up watching him, he was consistently a favorite player among friends and people who loved Detroit Pistons basketball. He never seemed to make the headlines for bad things and was very active in the community.

What do you remember about Richard Rip Hamilton? Was he one of your favorite players? Do you have a favorite memory? Let us know below.

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