NBA champion Rip Hamilton has revealed how he was once torn apart by basketball legend Michael Jordan.
The shooting guard was Jordan’s teammate with the Washington Wizards in the 2001-02 season, when Jordan had just joined the NBA and the Hall of Famer had just come out of retirement.
Jordan was known for his savage belittling of teammates and opponents.
The Chicago Bulls icon devastatingly told a young Hamilton that he wasn’t good enough to wear his Air Jordan sneakers.
“Me and a couple of the younger guys would go up to him and say, ‘Hey, Mike, what do you think about putting us in the (Jordan Brand) line?'” Hamilton recalled on ESPN’s The Jump.
“He would look at me and say, ‘Hey, Rip — my sneakers are for All-Stars.'”
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Hamilton didn’t let Jordan’s vitriol get him down.
After moving to the Detroit Pistons in 2002, Hamilton won the NBA championship in 2004 and was selected to the All-Star team three times.
He added: “After I made the All-Star team, I said, ‘Hey, M, now I’m an All-Star, now you gotta put me in those sneakers, now you gotta pay me big money.'”
Hamilton eventually became an Air Jordan athlete and received his own signature shoe in 2019, the Jordan 14 Rip Hamilton PE.
“There’s nothing better than getting your first pair of Jordans with your name on it. That was my number one,” Hamilton told CBS Sports.
“Come on, man. You can’t imagine anything better than this.”
Hamilton had a 14-year career in the NBA and retired with the Bulls in 2013.
He is currently a basketball analyst for CBS Sports.