Grant Long spent two brief years with the Detroit Pistons through his 14-year career in the league, but those coincided with the best of soon-to-be Hall of Famer Grant Hill, who sits two days away from his induction as basketball royalty.

To Long, there was no better player at the small forward position than Hill, a generational player gifted with all-around abilities and an indomitable competitive spirit, making him a fan favorite in The Motor City from the get-go.

Long was fresh off a two-year stint with the Atlanta Hawks, but it didn't take long for him to notice he was in the presence of a very special talent.

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“When you’re coming from another team, you always ask yourself, ‘Is this guy really that good? Or is he all hype because he’s the next guy coming?'” said Long, who joined the Pistons in 1996 after playing in Atlanta, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic. “When I got to Detroit and began to practice with the team and watched him in the game and played with him, I realized he was really that good. I’ve gone on record to say, before all of his injuries, there was no better small forward in the game. No better. Bar none.”

“People always brought up Scottie Pippen and his versatility and I always said, ‘Bar none, Grant was the best small forward in the game when I was playing.'”

That sounds like some tall praise for Hill, considering Pippen's role in writing NBA history — but for those familiar with Motown basketball, Long's words are purely gospel.

Hill had perhaps his most dominant season ever in 1996-97, his third in the NBA, averaging 21.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 1.8 steals per game — earning him a third straight trip to the All-Star Game and an All-NBA First Team nod.