Richard Hamilton wasn’t retired, retires

Apparently, Richard Hamilton – who didn’t play last season – wasn’t retired.

As we caught up on that fact, he retired.

Hamilton spent nine of his 14 seasons with the Pistons. At his best, he was an infectiously fun whirlwind of energy, showing off his superior conditioning while running opponents wild to create mid-range jumpers. At his worst, he was harmfully petulant, sabotaging teams and coaches while he couldn’t handle losing.

Those ugly seasons are more recent, and they definitely cloud my judgment. As Hamilton moves further into retirement, I expect to remember him mostly for his better years – because, yessir, those were really great.