Rip Hamilton was one of the flashiest guards in the league during his prime. The former Wizards and Pistons guard was a cult icon in league with his famous face mask and style.
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Hamilton was drafted by the Washington Wizards in 1999 and was the backcourt mate for none other than Michael Jordan during MJ’s time with the Wizards. The young guard formed a high-scoring wing partnership with the aging superstar during their time together.
And like every other youngster of the era, Hamilton was also a fanboy around MJ. And this extended to Hamilton’s fascination for Jordan’s sneakers too.
By the time he suited up for the Wizards, MJ had grown his Air Jordan brand into stratospheric popularity. Every youngster wanted to be associated with the brand and sport their shoes. Rip Hamilton was no different.
And Hamilton describes how he used to beg his then-teammate for the freshest of kicks – quite successfully managing to get his hands on some samples, too, it would appear.
How did Rip Hamilton describe sneaker hunting around Michael Jordan?
In an interview with Complex Sneakers, Hamilton was asked about his sneaker obsession as a renowned sneakerhead. The former Wizard recalled his time as MJ’s teammate when the iconic Cool Grey‘s released and how along with other younger teammates, he attempted to use Jordan’s plug to get the latest kicks.
“But when the Cool Greys came out, I was with the Washington Wizards at the time. I’m a strong believer in, if you look good, you play good. I was always the guy that made sure that I had the freshest shoes on my feet. That was the year that I used to beg MJ for his shoes because he used to walk around the locker room with all the samples. So that was one of the luxuries of playing with him” revealed Hamilton.
Imagine being a basketball player in your early 20s and having Michael Jordan himself as your sneaker plug. That is quite a luxury indeed. It wasn’t a one-sided transaction, however.
According to Hamilton, Jordan also stood to gain from this transaction. Hamilton believes that this relationship helped MJ understand the pulse of the youth better.
“He would get the response of all the young kids. Because you got to remember, Michael Jordan was a little older at the time. We were 20, 21. So he was able to get real opinions off of kids that were 20, 21 years old that had a huge impact on the sneaker culture.”
A win-win relationship if there ever was one. Hamilton and the young tykes had the freshest fits in the league, and Jordan got to learn the trends of the youngsters better to push the Air Jordan brand. Quite the symbiotic relationship indeed.
Did their relationship translate to on-court success though?
Unfortunately for Hamilton and Jordan, their sneaker relationship was as successful as things got. The Wizards were woeful and didn’t make the Playoffs during their time together.
Despite Hamilton and Jordan both scoring over 20 points, the team decided to break things up after just one season together with the duo. This was quite surprising, considering how the duo had helped the Wizards improve their record by 18 wins from the previous season.
The fact that even an 18-game improvement couldn’t propel the Wizards to the playoffs indicates how bad the team was.
Hamilton was traded to the Pistons, where he spent the most successful stint of his career. The shooting guard developed into a multiple-time all-star and NBA champion with the Pistons. The decision to move away from their rising star, who was proving to be a smart running mate for Jordan, was baffling.
On the other hand, the Wizards continued to be bad, and after another disappointing season, Jordan also moved on to a third retirement. Safe to say that wasn’t a move that worked out in basketball terms for the GOAT.
