Is Grant Hill in the Hall of Fame? Finding out more

Grant Hill retired after the 2012-23 NBA season and was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on September 7, 2018. He played for four teams in 19 seasons.

Hill came into the NBA as one of the most highly-touted college players. The Dallas, Texas native went to three NCAA Final Fours and won two championships with the Duke Blue Devils. He was everybody’s favorite in Durham and was honored by the university when his No. 33 was retired by the Blue Devils.

Hill was part of perhaps the most iconic moment in collegiate hoops. Kentucky’s Sean Wood sank a jumper to give the Wildcats a 103-102 lead with 2.1 seconds left in the game. “Mr. Nice” inbounded the ball and passed it across 75 feet to a waiting Christian Laettner who drained the game-winning basket.

The Detroit Pistons nabbed him as the 3rd pick in the 1994 NBA Draft. Purdue’s Glenn Robinson and California’s Jason Kidd went to the Milwaukee Bucks and Dallas Mavericks, respectively.

Grant Hill immediately made his mark in pro basketball. He became the first rookie in four major sports to lead the All-Star voting. Michael Jordan retired to play basketball at that time and it seemed like the NBA found the player to carry the torch without “His Airness.”

“G-Money” won co-NBA Rookie of the Year with Jason Kidd and was set for unquestioned stardom. He became a seven-time All-Star (1995-1998, 2000, 2001, 2005).

Injuries, however, were his downfall. The Detroit Pistons knew he could be a shell of himself at some point and traded him to the Orlando Magic. From 2001-2007, he played just 195 games and averaged just 16.4 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Grant Hill’s career got a second win when he played for the Phoenix Suns from 2007-08 to 2011-12. He played 343 games. “Mr. Nice” became one of the team’s leaders. He averaged 12.1 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 2.5 APG.

Following his stint with the Suns, he signed with the LA Clippers entering the 2012-13 season. Several teams went after him but he thought the Clippers were the right team for him to close out his career. A bruised bone kept him out of the team in the first three months.

Grant Hill played 29 games in his last season and retired after the Clippers were eliminated by the Memphis Grizzlies in the playoffs.

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Grant Hill continues to be active in the NBA today

In 2015, the Atlanta Hawks was bought by a group led by Tony Ressler. Grant Hill was a part of the group and became one of the Hawks’ minority owners.

After the Tokyo Olympics, Hill was named as the successor to former managing director Jerry Colangelo. The former Duke superstar won the Olympic gold in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. He would have been a shoo-in for the 2000 version if not for a brutal ankle injury.

The US Men’s Basketball team had a tough time beating France in the last Olympics in Japan. Hill and his team will have their task cut out for them as they try to defend the gold in Paris next year.

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