Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 at 9:20 am  |  8 responses

Ben Wallace Finds Rip Hamilton’s Return to Detroit ‘Weird’


Former teammates Ben Wallace and Rip Hamilton will be on opposing sides tonight when the Pistons and Bulls face off, and Wallace finds the whole thing quite bizarre. From the Detroit News: “For Tayshaun Prince, this is old hat, seeing a former teammate come to town wearing a different uniform. The lone key member of the 2004 title team that hasn’t worn an opposing jersey has seen it for everyone else: Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, and now, Hamilton. ‘It won’t be hard, I’ve had the situation with Chauncey, with Ben, with ‘Sheed,’ Prince said. ‘It wasn’t something I planned on seeing.’ Hamilton was released before the season began after reaching an agreement on a buyout for the last two years of his contract and signed with the Bulls. He’s nursing a groin injury, so it’s uncertain whether he’ll play tonight. When Billups returned as a member of the Nuggets after being traded for Allen Iverson, he received an extended ovation. Ben Wallace, however, admitted to some mixed feelings. ‘It’s gonna be weird,’ he said. ‘Anytime you see a guy move on that I feel like he was not only a good teammate, he was one of my brothers. I’m glad he’s happy.’ Prince hopes fans will remember the big shots Hamilton made and his approach to playing against some of the league’s best more than anything else. ‘You’ll hear a lot of claps, but you’ll hear a few boos here and there,’ Prince said. ‘It happens to most of the guys. … You’ll hear some boos because you’re in a different uniform. ‘Hamilton played nine seasons in Detroit, including the run of six consecutive Eastern Conference finals appearances, two NBA Finals and a title. He’s the Pistons career leading playoff scorer and the highest-paid player in team history.”

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  • Lew alcindor Posted: Jan.4 at 9:36 am
    you couldve been on a better team tayshaun…

  • shutup Posted: Jan.4 at 9:55 am
    It was weird seeing Stack in a uniform in the background of the hawks/chicago highlight. Oh and I think it’s weird Ben Wallace is still in the NBA also, muscle bound flopper

  • zero Posted: Jan.4 at 11:06 am
    Prince deserves a team that contends. Prince can help a lot of teams especially Orlando in my opinion.

  • Bt Posted: Jan.4 at 11:47 am
    Prince made his choice, he’s unlikely to b going anywhere for a while

  • Sean B Posted: Jan.4 at 1:13 pm
    Lmao… hearing Ben Wallace say this is weird is funny… he did the same thing 4 or 5 years ago when he signed with the Bulls in one of the worst free agent acquisitions ever for the franchise.

  • ponder Posted: Jan.4 at 1:31 pm
    @ Sean B for real how can he be saying that stuff when he left Detroit when they were still good just for money on a bad bulls team its crazy he ever got 16 million

  • el_larsen Posted: Jan.4 at 5:27 pm
    as a pistons fan,i m happy rip left and i hope he ll get some boos.
    last year he clearly was a cancer for the team and played for the stats.
    WIsh him luck but he s not missed.ben gordon is free now and finally is stepping up.
    and time has past,so now i ve forgive big ben for his departure though it broke my heart at the time.

  • Ldub20 Posted: Jan.5 at 11:44 am
    @el_Larsen…you really think that BG is better than Rip? You have an undersized sg that had his best days in chicago chucking 3s? Reason why Rip wasnt an asset was because he racked up many DNP’s (coachs decisions). You see what he is still capable of now that hes on a team that actually values him. He is definitely missed by the Pistons!

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