HAMPTON, VA (WTKR) — For 18 seasons in the NBA, Rick Mahorn prided himself as being a player who wouldn't back down from a fight.
On Monday, the NBA champion center didn't fight back his emotions as he watched his number 44 be lifted to the rafters at Hampton Convocation Center.
Mahorn's jersey was retired by Hampton University during halftime of the men's basketball team's game against North Carolina A&T. The former Pirate great was surrounded by family and a few former teammates during the ceremony.
"I never could have imagined my jersey being retired before I left," Mahorn said. "I just accomplished things that God blessed me to do."
Playing at Hampton from 1976-1980, Mahorn scored 2,418 points and earned three NAIA All-American honors. He went on to play for five NBA teams in his career, earning fame as a member of the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons. He won his lone NBA title in 1989 with the Pistons.
The stats and trophies are nice, but seeing the banner unveiled gave Mahorn a priceless feeling.
"It's going to be number one because this is where it started," he said. "This is where the guy that was with 'Beef Brothers', 'Bad Boys', 'Bump and Thump', it came from here at Hampton."
Mahorn, who still works with the Pistons organization, hopes the example he set carries on for future generations of Pirates.
"It shows that I did something here," Mahorn said. "The best thing about it, it only enriches other guys that you can recruit and say, 'Hey, Rick Mahorn could do it, you could do it.'"
