Grant Hill

While studying for the first round of second semester MBA finals in the library today, I couldn't help but go onto ESPN.com and SI.com every once in a while to check scores and stats.  One stat that happened to catch my eye came from the Suns vs. Pacers game; Grant Hill scored 34 points.  This caught my attention because of how unusual it is to see Grant Hill score that much these days, but just over 10 years ago, 34 points was almost expected of him.  This got me to thinking about how good Grant Hill was and could have been.  For starters, he is currently 8th all time in triple doubles, one spot ahead of Jordan.

At Duke, he went to the NCAA championship game 3 times, and won it twice.  He was the NCAA Defensive Player of the Year in 1993, and the ACC Player of the Year in 1994.  In his rookie season, he averaged 19.9 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 5.0 APG, to go along with 1.8 SPG, and .9 BPG.  He is the only rookie ever to lead the All-Star game in voting, edging out Shaq, and then he did it again in his second year, edging out Jordan.

There are really only 2 close Rookie of the Year races that I can remember.  The first was in the MLB when Jimmy Rollins was a rookie.  I really wanted Rollins to win the award because he was a Phillie.  He played a tough defensive position, scored a lot of runs, got on base, set the table, led the league in steals, and rejuvenated my interest in baseball.  He had a decent case to get the award.  That being said, I'm not surprised that he lost to a player who had more HRs, RBIs, and a much better average; Albert Pujols.

The 2nd close Rookie of the Year race I recall was between two amazing all around basketball players.  They currently rank 3rd and 8th on the all time triple doubles list, and are both still playing.  One was drafted 2nd overall from Cal by the Mavericks and the other 3rd overall from Duke by the Pistons (Trivia Question Answer: Glenn Robinson was drafted 1st overall from Purdue by the Bucks).  Grant Hill averaged 19.9 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 5 APG, which were all the LOWEST totals in his first 6 seasons until his pseudo-career ending injury in 2000.  Jason Kidd averaged 11.7 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 7.7 APG, which was his lowest assist average in his career, and his 4th lowest rebounding average.  Although I was rooting for Kidd, who was the underdog just like Rollins, they of course tied in voting and shared the award.

In Hill's next 5 seasons he averaged between 20.2-25.8 PPG, 6.6-9.8 RPG, and 5.2-7.3 APG.  These are LeBron-esque numbers with the exact same amount of triple doubles in his first 6 seasons.  He brought the former 3rd overall pick Pistons to the playoffs 4 times in his first 6 seasons.  Then, just like LeBron, he moved south and signed with a team from Florida (the Magic) in free agency along with another superstar, Tracy McGrady.  There were also rumors of Tim Duncan going to that Magic team as well, but that never panned out.  This was, of course, after Shaq joined Kobe to form a dynasty with the Lakers, and Penny Hardaway, coincidentally enough, was traded to Phoenix (where Hill currently plays) to form a dynamic back court with Jason Kidd.

Penny was another talent, like Hill, who could have been one of the best ever.  Back in the day, it was fashionable to label an up-and-coming player as "the next Jordan." However, the only player that Jordan himself ever said would be "the next Jordan" was indeed Penny Hardaway.  But after Penny's career was plagued by injury, Jordan never made this claim about anyone again, and Penny never lived up to his lofty potential.  Still, even after years of injuries, Penny was considered a great player as it is rare for an injury prone player to be traded for such a high price (two good players and two 1st round picks), and at the request of another superstar, Kidd, who urged the Suns to make the deal.

Then, Hill got injured one time after another playing only 47 games in his next 3 seasons, and, like Penny, never made it back to being the type of player that we was early on.  Now, he is a role player for the Suns playing along side 2 time MVP Steve Nash, who doesn't get as much credit as he deserves among the all-time greats, and 2000 slam dunk contest winner and best dunker of all-time, Vince Carter, who is another former Rookie of the Year that had incredible talent, but never truly dominated year after year like an elite superstar type player could.  To show how good Vince Carter really was just look at this stat.  Not only could he jump through the roof, but he holds the NBA playoff record for most 3-Point FGs made in a half, in a game, AND in a row, when he made 8 straight against a very good Sixers team in 2001.  That was the year where Iverson took us to the finals and dropped 48 (and Tyronn Lue who he stepped over after hitting a jumper) in Game 1 in LA to hand the Lakers their first and only playoff defeat that year.  Coincidentally enough, the only two times Vince made the NBA Championship, he in New Jersey playing alongside Hill's co-Rookie of the Year award winner and Penny's former back court partner, Jason Kidd.

When I started writing this article, my intention was to only write about Grant Hill, how good he was, and how good he could have been.  Then as I kept going I, one way or another, ran into 3 players who I could have written a similar "what could have been" article on: Penny, who just like Hill, could have been an all-time great, but, due to injury, never really made it; Tracy McGrady, who was an emerging star with Vince Carter in Toronto before signing with Hill and the Magic in 2000 and suffering injuries that slowed his career down as well; and Vince, who could have been an all-time great as well, but only reached great player level for uninjury related reasons.  The other 8 basketball players (excluding Glenn Robinson, who was only cited in case you were wondering who was drafted before Kidd and Hill) mentioned in this article were all-time greats, championship winners, and/or MVPs: Jordan, Kobe, Shaq, LeBron, Duncan, Kidd, Iverson, and Nash.  Just to be mentioned among these players for comparison purposes shows you how good Hill really was.  This year, as a role player, Hill is averaging a respectable 13.6, 4.5, and 2.5.

Looking back on Hill's career from start to finish - being drafted 3rd overall, winning ROY with Kidd, being the only player to lead the league in all-star voting his rookie year, signing with the Magic, getting injured time after time, and now playing as a role player on the Suns - I can't help but imagine what could have been.  What if he had never gotten injured?  What if he played alongside T-Mac in Orlando and neither were slowed by injury?  Looking at the box score for the Suns vs. Pacers game and seeing Hill's 34 point outburst caught my eye and brought a smile to my face.  I can't help but wonder, however, what would have happened if Hill's career wasn't hampered due to injuries.  I imagine that seeing a 34 point game from Hill in the box score today would have gone relatively unnoticed rather than catching my eye, and instead of being considered an outburst it would be chalked up as just another day at the office for one of the greatest players of all-time.