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One or two shoutouts wouldn't suffice, so by the time Amir Johnson finished reciting his NBA mentors, he'd named much of the Detroit Pistons' 2004 championship core - plus a bench's worth of sages who arrived a bit later. Ben Wallace. Rasheed Wallace. Chauncey Billups. Rip Hamilton. Tayshaun Prince. Lindsey Hunter. Dale Davis patrolled the Detroit frontcourt in 2005-06 when Johnson was a rookie; ditto Chris Webber the next season. Even Allen Iverson showed him the ropes in the Motor City for a spell.
"Kelvin Cato," Johnson said. "Tony Delk. Jarvis Hayes. I could go down the line of how many vets, good guys, I had helping me out."