Sometimes known by his nickname “Rip,” Richard Hamilton is just as known for his face mask as he is for his work on the court with the Detroit Pistons.
And on this day, 15 years ago, Rip met his face mask for the first time.
Today, he took to Instagram to pay special tribute to this distinctive bit of equipment, which was — well — see for yourself:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu1rwE2nyY4/
Richard Hamilton first began wearing the face mask for medical purposes. He had broken his nose three times by the time 2003 rolled around, and it was starting to affect his breathing.
Doctors then advised him to wear a face mask to prevent needing significant nasal reconstructive surgery. The clear plastic face mask became his trademark and he would wear it for the rest of his playing career.
In the same season that he began wearing the face mask, he would see the arrival of All-Star forward Rasheed Wallace. Wallace teamed up with Hamilton, Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince under new head coach Larry Brown to lay the foundation of what would become known as the “Goin' to Work” Pistons.
Now wearing the mask on a nightly basis (he called the mask his “Superman cape”), Hamilton led the Pistons in scoring (2003-04) for the second consecutive season with 17.6 points per game.
Detroit finished the season with 54 wins. In the playoffs, the Pistons dominated the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round before setting up a rematch with New Jersey. They eventually won the NBA Championship that year against the Los Angeles Lakers.
On February 26, 2017, the Pistons retired Hamilton's no. 32 jersey. No word on the retirement status of the face mask, though.
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