Richard Hamilton to have jersey retired by Detroit Pistons
Richard Hamilton will be the third player from the Detroit Pistons last championship team to have his jersey retired, following Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups. Hamilton will have his day February 26 against the Boston Celtics at half time.
First it was Big Ben’s number three. Next came Mr. Big Shot himself. Now it will be The Mask’s turn to see his number 32 jersey raised to the rafters.
Hamilton, the Detroit Pistons all-time leader in playoff scoring, becomes the player of the Pistons’ last championship team to see his number retired.
Detroit Free Press writer Vincent Ellis was first to report this back in February (so this shouldn’t shock anyone), but a date had not been set at the time.
That is no longer the case.
#Pistons announce they will retire Rip Hamilton’s jersey on Feb. 26 vs. #Celtics.
— NerdOnTw1tter (@Vincent_Ellis56) December 23, 2016
Unlike Wallace and Billups’ jersey retirements, Hamilton’s might be met with a bit of skepticism.
Despite averaging 17.1 points per game for his career and being a key contributor on a championship team–a team that also went to six straight NBA finals–Hamilton’s level of ability has generally been viewed as that of a role player.
My take is that the Pistons wouldn’t have won a championship without him. I also think that playing to his role on such an exceptional team likely undervalued his ability on the court.
There’s no doubt in my mind that on a lesser team Rip would have been considered one of the best two-way players in the game.
For what it’s worth, I think Rasheed Wallace also deserves his own night too.
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