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Grant Hill is perhaps known as the best player that could have been, as his meteoric rise to the upper echelon of the NBA was marred by a history of injuries that ultimately derailed his career.
Two days away from an induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Hill admitted how this honor validates what he's done for the game and how that perception really bothered him over the course of his tenure in the league.
Hill was on the verge to becoming the heir-apparent to Michael Jordan, who had retired from the game by the time he stepped foot in the NBA. While his trajectory looked promising during his first six seasons in Detroit, his career would take a tumble upon landing in Orlando upon signing a lucrative seven-year, $92.8 million deal — only playing 47 games during the next three seasons.
“It does bother me that I was hurt, that I was on this trajectory early on in Detroit and things were coming together and then it’s an incomplete,” Hill admitted, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic. “I didn’t get a chance to see it through, to see what could have been. And that’s something that, if I’m being honest with myself, it really, really bothered me. And maybe I’m getting too deep with this, but the Hall of Fame is very validating for me and I didn’t realize how much I needed it, how much I needed that recognition that … I don’t always see what I did back in the day, back in the 90s.”
Part of that validation came by speaking with fellow draftmate and 1994-95 co-Rookie-of-the-Year Jason Kidd, who was candid with his recollection of his career.
“I remember the end. And I remember the hard times, the struggles,” said Hill. “So I sat with J-Kidd recently and one of the amazing things … his career was amazing and he solidified everything he was able to accomplish with the numbers and the championship and just a stellar, long career. He was able to see it through. But to hear him talk about me and to hear what he thought of me back in the 90s, even now, not to say that I was overly sensitive, but somebody like him remembers. And I don't remember it the same way.”
“I remember being hurt. I’ve tended to focus on the struggle. So in a round sort of way this has all been a validating thing for me and confirmed some things for me. I did some good things, I did play in the Olympics. I was elite, for a period of time, you know. It wasn’t all bad, if that makes sense.”
It's surely tough for Hill thinking of what could have been, knowing his career was on the rise after averaging a career-high 25.8 points per game during the 1999-00 season, but his peers don't remember him in sorrow, but rather celebrate the greatness of what he accomplished as a healthy product, breaking barriers and giving a Jordan-less league hope that more excitement was to come.
