John Kuester Has Spoken: Rip Hamilton Will Be The Starter

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Ever since the Pistons announced the signing of Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, the biggest question this offseason has been: who will be the starter, and who will come off the bench? Will there be another Allen "the canswer" Iverson drama?

John Kuester has spoken, and made his decision known to all.

Richard "Rip" Hamilton will be the starter in most cases, but he has to understand that there will be games where Ben and him will both get starter minutes. Ben may even start in some contests.

When asked how he feels about that, Rip said, "That is fine with me. I'll do whatever it takes to help the team, and Ben is a great player and person."

When asked the same question, Gordon said, "I figured it would be this way when I signed for now, and I respect the decision. Rip was here first, and he's a leader on this team. It will work for the best."

Paying a guy $55 million to come off the bench may seem like a bit much, but think of the effectiveness he will have. Rip lost a lot of his effectiveness when he came off the bench. Ben had a similar role for a while in Chicago, and did just fine.

I, for one, am glad we don't have another Iverson—someone who comes in and thinks he runs the show, and he has to be the starter. Rip should of been it the whole time, and Iverson should have come off the bench. It just was better that way, but now we have a team player in Ben who is fine with his role.  

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