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PHILADELPHIA – APRIL 16: Michael Jordan #23 of the Washington Wizards enters the court for the final NBA game of his career, played against the Philadelphia 76ers at First Union Center on April 16, 2003 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Sixers won 107-87. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2003 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
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PHILADELPHIA – APRIL 16: Michael Jordan #23 of the Washington Wizards enters the court for the final NBA game of his career, played against the Philadelphia 76ers at First Union Center on April 16, 2003 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Sixers won 107-87. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2003 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
Michael Jordan‘s ex-teammate from his lesser talked about stint recently gave MJ his flowers. While Jordan and the Chicago Bulls are written together in the history books, his time with the Washington Wizards doesn’t get any attention. Recently, Richard Rip Hamilton talked about his time with the 6x NBA champion.
Not only did he praise the Chicago Bulls legend for teaching him the details of the game, but he also credited Jordan for his biggest achievement. As per Hamilton, if it wasn’t for the lessons from the NBA legend, he couldn’t win his only NBA trophy in 2004.
Richard Hamilton credits Michael Jordan for his success
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The early 2000s belonged to the Los Angeles Lakers. They had recently three-peated the NBA championship and were the biggest threat to any team with the same goals. However, Hamilton with the Detroit Pistons was more than prepared to not only challenge them but to eventually lift the trophy. Hamilton said that his glory with the Pistons in 2004 couldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for his time with MJ in 2001-2002. The 3x NBA All-Star said, “I don’t win the championship unless I get them little nuggets from Michael Jordan.” Hamilton said that he was blessed to have shared moments with Jordan where he got to learn the game.
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USA – APRIL 27: Richard Hamilton of the Connecticut Huskies poses for a photo on April 27, 1997. (Photo by Sporting News via Getty Images via Getty Images)
Hamilton was the 7th pick by the Wizards in the 1999 NBA draft. Whereas Jordan joined the team in 2001. So a young Hamilton at the time got a chance to play alongside one of the all-time greats for two years. However, he said during a recent interview that he always wanted to play against Jordan from a very early age. Although he didn’t get to battle against him, Hamilton said that he is happy that he got to share a locker room with Jordan.
He said that he had a lot of questions for MJ when they played together and everything he learned from him during those two years, helped him get his hands on an NBA trophy.
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Was Michael Jordan a trash-talker?
MJ’s trash-talking days when he was with the Bulls is common knowledge. However, Hamilton revealed that the 5x MVP was big on trash-talking even during his Wizards days. He said that this was another similarity between the two apart from playing the same position. Hamilton said that he also does a lot of trash talking just like MJ.
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The 45-year-old added that it is a part of their competitive nature and that when you are determined to win and do the best for your team, some amount of trash-talking is inevitable.
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