Trade ‘crushed’ Hamilton

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Richard Hamilton yesterday revisited his experience in Washington, which traded him to the Detroit Pistons for Jerry Stackhouse in September 2002.

“Aw, man, I was crushed,” Hamilton said. “Anytime you are in a city where you don’t want to leave … I just got my house there, and that was a place I was going to live for the rest of my life.”

Hamilton then went into his best John Madden impersonation to finish the story.

“And then, boom! Wow, you’re traded. I was [teed] off at everyone in the MCI Center, I’m not going to lie. I was mad at everybody. I was. I had a grudge for like six or seven months, and I couldn’t get over it.”

It got even worse for Hamilton when, in his first game against the Wizards after the trade, he was a non-factor as Washington won 88-83.

“I was so mad,” Hamilton said. “I told myself, ’Man, this is stupid; this is crazy.’ A couple of people told me to let it ride. I eventually let it roll off my chest. But like I said, I’m happy now. I thought we had a great thing in D.C. with the young players that we had. Oh well.”

— John N. Mitchell