Top 100 NBA Players: #55

Richard Hamilton

(BBR: #176)

Richard Hamilton may not seem like an obvious choice to be included among the best players of all time, but many people overlook him because he doesn't have any single thing that sets him apart from other players. He's not a huge scorer or rebounder, he doesn't hit a ton of threes, and he's not known for his defense, but he has been a very consistent player for the past decade and is also a winner.

As I said above, Hamilton is not a huge scorer, but from 2000 through 2010, he scored at least 17.3 points per game, but never more than 20.1 per game. He has also shot over 83% from the free throw line for that entire time, which is a very solid average. That means that his team was always able to count on him to bring somewhere near 20 points every night for a decade, and they were always able to keep him on the court during crunch time, which is a very good attribute for a star player to have.

As a member of the Detroit Pistons, Hamilton made 6 straight appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals, twice advancing to the NBA Finals and winning one championship. When I highlighted Chauncey Billups at #63, I compared the two players' stats to show that Rip should have been the Finals MVP rather than Billups, and Hamilton was their best player more consistently over that 6-year stretch than anyone else.

Hamilton is also the type of player who always turns it on during the playoffs, scoring more in the playoffs during five of the six deep playoff runs. He has never averaged 4 rebounds per game in a regular season, but his overall playoff rebound average is 4.0. He even raised his already-impressive free throw shooting percentage by 10 points in the postseason. It's no wonder the Pistons had so much success over the past decade.

Statistically, there is no way to formulate an argument that puts Hamilton over Howard. Hamilton has played for longer, but Howard's level of play has been so high throughout his entire career that he's obviously the better player. The reason that Rip sits ahead of him in the all-time rankings is that he led his teams deeper into the playoffs more often than Howard has so far. Unless Howard retires today, he will pass Hamilton next year, but for now Rip has the slight edge due to playoff success.