<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">AUBURN HILLS - Out on one of those exclusive golf courses where he spends much of his time these days, Michael Jordan is probably looking to take a mulligan. For trading Richard Hamilton. Jordan's decision to deal Hamilton after his third NBA season for one of his North Carolina pals, Jerry Stackhouse, is shaping up as the biggest turnover of his reign as GM of the Washington Wizards. </div> As a Wiz fan, I didnt like this trade, Rip looked really impressive, and Stack hasnt done anything for the Wizards. MJ traded Youth for Age. Bad move MJ, great move for Detroit. Rip proved Jordan Wrong
^ Well I totally disagree with that article, I think the way Rip Hamilton develope shows the impact that MJ can have on a young player imo. If you think about it, what was the main thing that MJ use to get on Rip about & probably the reason he ended up getting traded from the Wizards ? It was the fact that Richard couldnt put the ball on the floor to create his own shot,if he couldnt get open off screens. Well that is the main adjustment that Rip added to his game once he got traded to the Pistons. Its crazy that a guy who spent 3 years playing in Jim Calhoun, and a year in the NBA before MJ ever joined the Wizards front office, yet never really showed signs of developing an off the dribble game until MJ came along & started working with him. Iam pretty sure somewhere down the line somebody(before MJ told him how important developing skills off the dribble were). But MJ getting on him for an entire year, & then trading him more than likely motivated Hamilton to add this to his game. And now not only has he added this to his game but he is starting to perfect his skills off the dribble. And he is starting to use his ablities off the dribble to make his teamates better(something he never did before), so that the main reason why Hamitlon is developing into a star. So I call the development of Rip Hamilton THE MJ AFFECT . If the greatest Player of all-time tells you need to add something to your game & then trades you because he feels you arent working fast enuff to add those thing to your game. That will motivate you,in the highest form. Imo MJ trading Rip was sort of a wake up call to Rip. He may or may not have develope new parts to his game if MJ didnt trade him. But MJ trading him made him realize how important it was to work on adding those parts immediately. So why should the development of Hamilton be a knock on MJ, it should be more of a plus imo.
