Richard Hamilton is getting his jersey retired by the Pistons tonight, and for good reason. He is the franchise's all-time leading playoff scorer, and was a catalyst for the 2004 championship team.
Given the Pistons struggles in recent years, fan support has died off, but still everyone loves to reminisce about the days of 2004 and the “Goin' to Work” era Pistons. I took to the DSN channels to find out what were some of Rip's finest moments that stood out to our writers.
Managing Editor Don Drysdale went immediately to Rip's 51 point outburst in a triple-overtime loss against the New York Knicks back in 2006. Hamilton set his career high in points by going 19-37 from the field and 12-12 from the free throw line.
One of my favorite moments is of Hamilton going absolutely bonkers and knocking the Milwaukee Bucks out of the playoffs in 2006. Rip had 40 points on 15-23 shooting from the field, and the Pistons cruised to a 30-point victory.
Writer Julius Porter said his favorite Rip moment has to be him walking off the court in the NBA finals Game 5 with his face mask in the air. Speaking of the finals… a great chapter in Hamilton's Pistons legacy is his takeover of Game Three against the Lakers. The Pistons headed into the franchise's first NBA Finals game at home since 1990, and were tied 1-1 with Los Angeles. Hamilton lit up the Lakers to the tune of 31 points on 11-22 shooting from the field, all while playing 43 of a possible 48 minutes.
Rip had tons of great moments as a Piston and still remains a fan favorite today. There's a reason we can all picture the cornrows and plastic face mask so vividly whenever we think of the three-time NBA All-Star that donned our No. 32.
What's your favorite Richard Hamilton moment? Let us know in the comments below.
- BONUS MOMENT: Richard Hamilton's Dr. Rahmani commercial. The ‘Rip City' jersey is gold.
