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"I basically grew up in that store," Hammond said. "It had twolevels with office supplies, a small Christian bookstore, giftware,and downstairs it had a toy and hobby center. People would walk upto the counter, and I was so small they could hardly see me. I wouldrun the cash register in the lower level, by myself.
"When the store was empty, I would come upstairs with my Dad."
Tough times finally forced his dad to close the store, and duringhis high school days Hammond moved with his parents out of theirhome and into an apartment building. As a senior, Hammond missed thebasketball season after suffering a serious leg injury in amotorcycle accident.
"I had my leg in a cast for seven months," Hammond recalled. "Imissed the thing I loved more than anything."
Education begins
But Hammond did sit next to Zion-Benton coach Mo Tharp duringthat 1971-'72 season, and a true education in basketball had begun.
Of course, Hammond wasn't even thinking of the National Basketball Association when he landed a job out of college in theremote town of Pawnee City, Neb., in the state's southeast corner.
Still, it was a start.
"I used to wake up at night and think, 'I've ruined my career,' "he said. " 'I'm in Pawnee City, Neb. What am I going to do?' "
But at the age of 25, Hammond landed a graduate assistantposition at the University of Nebraska under coach Joe Cipriano.Again, Hammond's development was accelerated when Moe Iba took overas coach after Cipriano's death from cancer.
Suddenly, Hammond became a full-time assistant, flying around thecountry and recruiting for the Cornhuskers.
"I had only flown on a plane one time in my life," Hammond said."I basically had no idea what I was doing."
Moe Iba, the son of the legendary Hank Iba, had plenty ofconnections in the basketball world, and they would prove valuableto Hammond over the next decade. Moe Iba helped him land a job atHouston Baptist and later as an assistant under Charlie Spoonhour atSouthwest Missouri State.
"I was not sure about joining Spoonhour and said I was going tostay in Houston," Hammond said. "Moe called and said, 'John, Charlieoffered you that job, didn't he? Charlie really needs you. You needto go with Charlie.' "
Iba's powers of persuasion led Hammond to six years with a giant-killing program at Southwest Missouri State, and soon the NBA wouldcome calling in the form of Hammond's old friend, formerNorthwestern guard and NBA player McKinney.
To the NBA Hammond spent one year as a scout with the Minnesota Timberwolves, when McKinney was the expansion team's playerpersonnel director in 1989. Then it was on to Los Angeles, whereHammond served as an assistant coach with the Clippers under Mike Schuler and Larry Brown.
That led to two stints with the Detroit Pistons, the first as ascout and later as an assistant under Doug Collins. During hissecond stint, Hammond served a seven-year period working as theright-hand man to Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketballoperations.
"John was always a voice of reason, more than anything else,"Dumars said. "It was always about what was best for this team andthis organization."
Dumars had to take the criticism when a big decision didn't panout, such as the drafting of Darko Milicic with the second overallpick in the 2003 draft, when Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh were available.
Now in charge
Today, Hammond is in charge of the Bucks after so many years assecond in command.
Knuckledragger 
