Richard Hamilton says Derrick Rose was the most talented player he played with

Richard "Rip" Hamilton played with a lot of All-Stars, superstars, and even an NBA legend during his colorful 14-year NBA career. Whether it was the great Michael Jordan during his first two seasons in the league, playing for the Washington Wizards, to the Detroit Pistons, where he won an NBA title with the likes of Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, and Rasheed Wallace, to the Chicago Bulls where he spent the twilight of his career, Hamilton had a chance to play alongside some of the greatest players in NBA history.

So when asked by Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on the All The Smoke podcast who was the most talented player he ever played with, his answer was somewhat surprising—Derrick Rose.

Derrick Rose was unlike any other

After spending nearly a decade with the Pistons, Hamilton signed to play for the Bulls in 2011, joining a title-contending squad that featured Carlos Boozer, Luol Deng, Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson, Kyle Korver, and Joakim Noah. Early on, he saw how much work Rose put into improving his craft, and this was after Rose became the youngest player to win the MVP award.

"This dude was ridiculous, and I see what he was doing and practice night in and night out. And he had a great work ethic and he's very similar to KD. I always say Derrick Rose, him and KD are the most humble I ever seen in my life," said Hamilton.

Seeing how much work Rose did away from the spotlight and then putting it all together on the floor during actual NBA games led Hamilton to label Rose as the most talented player he shared the court with.

"I played with a lot of great players. Derrick Rose, during that time, was probably the most talented player I ever played with," Hamilton asserted.

Stars feared going up against Rose

Hamilton continued to say that there were already plenty of skilled point guards who were around when Rose arrived in the league. However, none of them wanted any part of Rose whenever he was on the floor, said Hamilton.

"There's a lot of great players in our game right now when you're talking about the point guard position," Hamilton said. "Russell Westbrook. You know, you talk about Steph, CP, Kyrie. Listen, none of them dudes wanted no smoke with Derrick Rose in the Derrick Rose era. I'm tellin' you right now. None of them wanted no smoke with D-Rose during that time."