An NBA Legend Reunites with His Filipino Fans in Manila

2023 was an unprecedented year of experiences for Filipino basketball fans with their favorite NBA players, coaches and legends, especially with the country’s successful hosting of the FIBA World Cup. Manila’s most recent NBA guest was three-time All-Star, 2004 NBA champion, and Detroit Pistons all-time great Richard ‘Rip’ Hamilton. It was actually Hamilton’s second time in the Philippines, his first back in 2014 for the launch of the former NBA Store in Glorietta, the largest one outside of the U.S. at the time.

Esquire Philippines met with Hamilton for a quick chat to find out how excited he was to be back in the country nearly a decade later. 

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“The one thing that I’m most interested in is interacting with the fans,” Hamilton says. “I think they’re a big part of our game.” It’s a feeling that’s definitely mutual, especially with his older fanbase who witnessed his exciting career in the 2000s.

Rip Hamilton's NBA days

After winning an NCAA National Championship with the UConn Huskies in 1999, Hamilton entered the NBA Draft that year where he was selected as the seventh pick overall by the Washington Wizards.

Photo by NBA Philippines.

“When I first got drafted by Washington, it was an amazing feeling for me because I’m from Pennsylvania and that was only an hour and a half from me for my parents and my friends to come and watch me play,” Hamilton remembers about the challenges during his rookie season. “But it was hard. I mean I had just won a national championship. I think I only lost one or two games my junior year in college and now, coming into the Wizards, only winning 18 my first year and having to come off the bench. It was tough.” His early years paying his dues in the league with the Wizards however was something he would not have any other way. 

Hamilton’s apprenticeship playing alongside some of the league’s best definitely prepared him for the seasons to come. “Having to learn from a great vet that I had in front of me, which was Mitch Richmond, one of the great two-guards,” Hamilton recalls. It also gave him the opportunity of a lifetime to play and learn from arguably the best ever to do it. 

“Getting the opportunity to play with Michael Jordan in year three, to be able to share the backcourt with him, I mean if you ask any kid growing up and someone says to you, and I still pinch myself right now, ‘Hey, one day, you’re going to share the court with the GOAT.’ That’s still crazy to me even to think about it to this day. It was an amazing time for me being able to learn from one of the greatest to ever play the game.”

Hamilton teamed up with his childhood hero that season to improve Washington’s win-loss record 18 games better than the previous year. “He was my favorite player to watch,” he says. “The reason why I wore 32 was because of Michael Jordan, even though he wore 23; it’s 23 backwards. Just to be able to interact with him, to be around him; I watched so many highlights, so many great games. He was a champion, and we played the same position.

“I got a bald head now, but I didn’t have a bald head back then, but it an amazing time,” he adds with a laugh.

Photo by NBA Philippines.

Hamilton’s move to Detroit the following season allowed the Pistons to put together one of the most formidable starting units in all of NBA history, so much so that they dominated the mighty Lakers led by Shaq and Kobe, 4-1 in their 2004 NBA Finals series. Taking the floor each night with teammates Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace struck fear in the hearts of the rest of the league during their heyday. Winning a championship together makes you brothers for life and 20 years later, these OG Pistons are still as close as ever.

“Yeah, we talk probably twice or three times a week,” Hamilton says. “I just got a text, because we’re all in a group text, and Tayshaun made a comment about Rasheed because he was on a podcast and he made a comment on the podcast.

“Our relationship is bigger than basketball that’s why we call ourselves ‘The Best Five Alive,’ he adds. “We embody something special on the court, but it wasn’t just on the court; it was off the court too. We hung together on New Year’s Eve, we did everything together—road trips, especially when you look at the league where there’s so much money involved, so many egos and things like that. We didn’t get caught up in that. We got caught up in the relationship.”

Long after all the blood, sweat and tears that go into winning a title together, the bond between the five remains as strong as it was back in the day. “The relationship and the brotherhood, all of it was bigger than anything else,” Hamilton says.

Photo by NBA Philippines.

Hamilton in Manila

Coming to Manila for the second time, Hamilton was on hand to celebrate the first-ever NBA Fan Month and to witness all the action from this year’s NBA 3X Philippines Invitational, which also brought over teams from the Asia-Pacific region. This also coincided with the culmination of the league’s first In-Season Tournament, which the Los Angeles Lakers won in Las Vegas. Hamilton understands the significance of his visit and the responsibility that comes with being an NBA legend and ambassador for the league. 

“Here in the Philippines, basketball is one of the most watched events. Basketball has grown internationally from a league standpoint so getting an opportunity to speak and hang out with young ballers that have dreams and aspirations to one day play at a high level and to be able to give them advice as much as possible is a huge blessing,” Hamilton shares. “I never had that opportunity, as a kid, to meet a professional athlete or someone that could come in and give me real information so that is one of the things that I’m most looking forward to.”