Richard Hamilton (basketball)

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Richard Hamilton
Position Shooting guard/small forward
Height 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Weight 193 lb (87.5 kg)
League NBA
Team Detroit Pistons
Jersey #32
Born February 14, 1978 (1978-02-14) (age 30)
Coatesville, Pennsylvania
Nationality American
College Connecticut
Draft 7th overall, 1999
Washington Wizards
Pro career 1999–present
Former teams Washington Wizards (1999-2002)
Awards 3-time NBA All-Star, NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player, 1x NBA Champion
Official profile Info Page

Richard "Rip" Hamilton (born February 14, 1978 in Coatesville, Pennsylvania) is an American National Basketball Association player for the Detroit Pistons. He is 6 ft 7 in, 193 pounds (2.01 m, 87.5 kg) and plays shooting guard and small forward.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

Hamilton played college basketball at the University of Connecticut from 1996-99. He was named the 1999 NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player after UConn's run to that year's national title.

Hamilton was a lottery pick in that year's NBA draft and played for the Washington Wizards for his first three seasons as a professional. Hamilton, Hubert Davis and Bobby Simmons were then traded to the Detroit Pistons for Jerry Stackhouse, Brian Cardinal and Ratko Varda. Since the trade, Richard has become one of the NBA's top shooting guards, and helped the Pistons win the NBA Championship in 2004. Also, Hamilton was and still is the leading scorer on the team.

After fracturing his nose three times in the 2003-2004 season, Hamilton began wearing a protective mask. He has continued to wear the mask since it has become a symbol of strength. Hamilton says, "It's like my Superman cape."[1]

Hamilton is the only player in NBA history to lead his team in scoring in a game despite not making a single field goal. On January 6, 2005, Hamilton was 0-for-10 from the field, but hit 14-of-14 from the line to pace the Pistons in a 101-79 home loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.[2]

On February 9, 2006, Hamilton earned his first selection to the 2006 NBA All-Star Game as a reserve guard for the Eastern Conference.

On December 27, 2006, Hamilton scored a career-high 51 points with 19-for-37 field goal shooting in a 151-145 triple-overtime Pistons loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.[3][4]

He represented the Eastern Conference for the second time at the 2007 NBA All-Star Game.

On February 17, 2008, Hamilton represented the Eastern Conference for the third consecutive season at the 2008 NBA All-Star Game. On February 6, Hamilton was selected to be a part of the Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout, held on February 16 during All Star Weekend in New Orleans. He was defeated, however, by defending champion Jason Kapono.

On May 13, 2008, Hamilton surpassed Isiah Thomas as the Pistons' all-time leading scorer in the playoffs.[5]

On November 3, 2008 Hamilton signed a three-year, $34 million contract extension with the Pistons. The first two years of the contract is guaranteed and the third is partially.

[edit] Media appearances

In the 2006-07 NBA season Hamilton appeared in the NBA Fundamentals series, hosted by TNT, where basketball players showcase certain aspects of the game. Hamilton explained the topic "movement without the ball" to shake off your defender. He was also a contestant on a recent episode of the game show series Wanna Bet?. He has also worked with many charities, including the Read to Achieve* program and reading books to children.

[edit] Personal

On October 31, 2007, Hamilton's girlfriend TJ Lottie gave birth to Richard Clay Hamilton II.[6]

Early in the 2003-04 season, Hamilton suffered a fractured nose. His nose was fractured again in late February and underwent nasal reconstructive surgery. He now wears a protective mask so as to prevent further injury.[7]

[edit] NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

[edit] Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1999–00 Washington 71 12 19.3 .420 .364 .774 1.8 1.5 .4 .1 9.0
2000–01 Washington 78 42 32.3 .438 .274 .868 3.1 2.9 1.0 .1 18.1
2001–02 Washington 63 57 35.0 .435 .381 .890 3.4 2.7 .6 .2 20.0
2002–03 Detroit 82 82 32.2 .443 .269 .833 3.9 2.5 .8 .2 19.7
2003–04 Detroit 78 78 35.5 .455 .265 .868 3.6 4.0 1.3 .2 17.6
2004–05 Detroit 76 76 38.5 .440 .305 .858 3.9 4.9 1.0 .2 18.7
2005–06 Detroit 80 80 35.3 .491 .458 .845 3.2 3.4 .6 .2 20.1
2006–07 Detroit 75 75 36.8 .468 .341 .861 3.8 3.8 .8 .2 19.8
2007–08 Detroit 72 72 33.7 .484 .440 .833 3.3 4.2 1.0 .1 17.3
Career 675 574 33.3 .455 .345 .853 3.3 3.3 .8 .1 17.9
All-Star 3 0 15.3 .458 .500 .000 2.0 1.3 .0 .0 7.7

[edit] Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2002–03 Detroit 17 17 38.8 .442 .333 .906 3.9 2.6 .8 ..3 22.5
2003–04 Detroit 23 23 40.2 .447 .385 .848 4.6 4.2 1.2 .0 21.5
2004–05 Detroit 25 25 43.2 .453 .294 .798 4.3 4.3 .8 .1 20.0
2005–06 Detroit 18 18 38.3 .413 .350 .851 2.9 2.7 .9 .3 20.4
2006–07 Detroit 16 16 39.9 .429 .400 .865 4.3 3.8 .9 .1 18.8
2007–08 Detroit 17 17 38.6 .470 .308 .911 4.2 3.9 1.4 .5 21.6
Career 116 116 40.1 .443 .344 .861 4.1 3.7 1.0 .2 20.8

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Jeff Sheppard
NCAA Basketball Tournament
Most Outstanding Player
(men's)

1999
Succeeded by
Mateen Cleaves
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