Richard Clay “Rip” Hamilton officially retired from the NBA yesterday, largely a formality for a player who hasn’t appeared in an NBA game in nearly two years. Hamilton is, of course, best known by UConn fans as the leading scorer for UConn’s first (of four – there are four of them) National Championship winning team in 1999.
Hamilton came to UConn in a down year, but his talent was always apparent. With many veteran players,including Doron Sheffer, Travis Knight, Rudy Johnson, Eric Hayward, and the great Ray Allen, all departing, Hamilton was pressed into early duty, and looked to have the potential to pick up where Allen had left off. That potential was realized, as he led the team in scoring all three seasons, was a two-time Big East Player of the Year, and a consensus First-Team All-American as a junior.
That first season, however, was a little rough. Off to a healthy 11-3 start, the Huskies lost senior leader Kirk King for the season to a violation involving the acceptance of a plane ticket home to see his family (the NCAA, as you can see, has always been known for measured and reasonable responses to violations). The team struggled greatly, going 3-11 over its next 14 games and landing in the NIT. It’s here that Hamilton really excelled, averaging 25ppg and leading the Huskies to a 3rd-place finish. The team’s sharp play in the NIT was encouraging, and many saw greater things on the horizon, including my annoying sister, who to this day continues to brag about predicting the 1999 title two years in advance.
Husky Nation was appalled at the beginning of the next season when Hamilton was left off of the preseason All-Big East team, and Rip proved his supporters right by leading the team to a 15-3 conference record and winning his first Big East Player of the Year award. After winning the Big East Tournament, the Huskies were rewarded with a #2 seed in the East and a collision course with powerhouse North Carolina. On the way, Rip authored one of the most indelible moments of Husky Heroics when he sunk a buzzer beater to beat #11 seed Washington in the Sweet Sixteen. The Huskies had the poor luck of having to play North Carolina in a de facto road game in Greensborough, and a rough game for Rip sunk them, as UConn fell short of the Final Four once more.
Going into the 1998-99 season, UConn fans were excited, as they returned nearly all key pieces, including Hamilton, who returned after a brief flirtation with the NBA. Hamilton continued to hone his game, and though his three-point marksmanship took a dip his junior year, he actually became an even more efficient scorer, as his style of slashing through the defense earned him a plethora of trips to the free throw line (a .366 free throw rate, which is super-high guys, really). This is an especially effective weapon for a player like Hamilton who made more than 83% of his free throws that year. Another Big East Player of the Year award and another Big East title got the Huskies the #1 seed out west, on the opposite side of the bracket of overall #1 Duke.
Hamilton played his best ball of the year in the NCAA tournament, leading all scorers with 145 points as UConn slice through the competition, but the Huskies were to face Duke in the title game, and few gave them a chance to win. The Huskies were nearly 10-point underdogs in the game, a staggering margin given that both teams were #1 seeds, as 1-loss Duke was hyped as perhaps the greatest collection of talent seen in college basketball since UCLA had the best players money could buy in the 1970s. Not that it mattered to Hamilton and Co., who sunk the Blue Devils 77-74, with Hamilton leading all scorers with 27 points. It was a glorious moment for all of Husky nation, and we’d forever be greatful.
Hamilton, having accomplished everything he could hope to in college, chose to forgo his senior season and enter the NBA draft, where he went #7 to the Washington Wizards. After a relatively pedestrian rookie season, Hamilton broke out in his second year and became the team’s leading scorer. In Hamilton’s third season, Michael Jordan stepped out of the owner’s box and unretired (again), as Hamilton and the Wizards made great strides, narrowly missing out on the playoffs. Jordan, ever the patient one, pushed management to move Hamilton for veteran Jerry Stackhouse, and Rip was off to Detroit.
Hamilton settled in quickly in Detroit, leading the team in scoring as they made the Eastern Conference Finals in his first season with the team. In his second season, the team ascended to even greater heights, facing off against a stacked Lakers team, featuring future Hall of Famers Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, and Gary Payton, as well as legendary coach Phil Jackson. The series was viewed as a formality by most, as no pundits gave the Pistons a chance to win the series. Instead, the Pistons dominated the Lakers, winning the series 4 games to 1 as Hamilton outplayed Bryant, leading the Pistons in scoring again.
Hamilton would continue to excel with Detroit throughout the 2000s, establishing himself as one of the NBA’s best shooting guards as he’d feature in three consecutive All-Star Games from 2006 – 2008, and passing Isiah Thomas to become the Pistons’ all-time leading postseason scorer.
After leaving Detroit, Hamilton played two more seasons as a role player with the Chicago Bulls, but it was clear that the end was near. He was waived in 2013, and wouldn’t play another NBA game prior to his official retirement yesterday.
Hamilton is a well-known name to NBA fans, but for UConn fans, we’ll always remember his exuberant smile, clutch shooting, and lanky frame streaking up the court on the fast break in familiar Husky Blues. Adieu, Richard the Lion-Hearted, Richard the Husky, Richard the Champion.
To see Rip in action, check out at UConnHuskyGames.com
