Detroit Pistons great Rick Mahorn expressed his respect for soon-to-be Hall of Fame inductee Grant Hill, who was a generational talent coming into the league as an all-around dynamo.

The former Bad Boys big man even compared Hill to Steph Curry, another once-in-a-generation talent who has changed the NBA forever, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic.

“Hill was kind of like the first Steph Curry, in the sense that he was a guy who had a lot of opportunities but never complained and competed at a high level,” said Mahorn. “A guy will say, ‘Man, you don’t know how hard it is to get here.’ He knew. He knew how hard it was to be the best and be in that limelight. I love that dude. He’s still soft, but I love that dude.”

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Hill was a bad man coming into the league in 1994, putting the league on notice with averages of 19.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.8 steals in his rookie season — enough to warrant an outright All-Star nod as a rookie.

The Duke star shared Rookie of the Year honors with Jason Kidd that season, but had his deepest impact with the fan base. Hill was the first rookie in all four major sports to lead an All-Star Game in voting, narrowly edging big man sensation Shaquille O'Neal in the voting, earning his place among a constellation of NBA talent less than a year removed from his senior year in college.

Much like Curry, Hill was a fan favorite due to his ability to do everything on the floor, often described as the predecessor to LeBron James, as he changed the way others looked at the small forward position.