“The longer I was there, I found myself thinking, ‘I could do this,’ ” Hill said Wednesday from his home in Orlando, Fla. “The more I think about it, the more I like it.”
Hill has a few options. He can stay with the Phoenix Suns in comfort. He can chase a ring in Boston. Or he could come to New York, where the Knicks would be happy just to make the playoffs. Hill, 36, has never come close to winning an N.B.A. championship during a 15-year career. He’s never advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs. But our conversation was not saturated with his desire to chase a championship ring. Instead, he spoke of helping build something that would endure.
“I understand New York is a different animal,” Hill said. “But it’s intriguing for a number of reasons: the opportunity to play, the opportunity to play in New York, to help restore the credibility of the franchise.
“I’ve been through a whole lot. I’m certainly at the end, and part of me feels I would kick myself if I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to play here.”
The first part of Hill’s basketball career was magical: three N.C.A.A. championship-game appearances with Duke; two titles. When Hill entered the N.B.A., he was wildly popular. He was the first rookie to lead the fans’ All-Star balloting and he became the first rookie in all major sports to get the most votes for an All-Star game. By the end of Hill’s first six seasons, only Oscar Robertsonand Larry Bird, in a similar period of time, had more points, rebounds and assists.
Although Hill has not experienced championship success as a professional, he has been one of the league’s most solid citizens.
The second part of Hill’s career — beginning with an ankle injury in 2000 — has been plagued by injuries. For a generation of young fans, injuries have defined Hill’s career. He sprained his left ankle before the 2000 playoffs, and the injury impeded him in various degrees for the next seven seasons. Hill went to Orlando in August 2000. He played in four games in his first season, 14 games the next and 29 in the third. Hill sat out the fourth.
There was a bizarre procedure in 2003 when doctors refractured his ankle and realigned it with his leg bone. Five days after the surgery, Hill was diagnosed as having a staph infection that doctors said could have killed him.
Almost miraculously, Hill played 67 games during the 2004-5 seasons and was voted to the All-Star team, but even that was hollow.
“I didn’t feel like an All-Star,” he said. “It just felt like a feel-good story.”
During the 2005-6 season, Hill had to fight through more injuries, including a sports hernia that required surgery. He played only 21 games. A year later he played 65 games despite knee injuries.
“When you get hurt you lose confidence in the medical profession, you lose confidence in your ability to stay healthy,” Hill said. “You also lose confidence in your game.”
In his last two seasons, Hill has showed flashes of All-Star form. This past season Hill played in all 82 regular-season games for the first time in his career and was a force down the stretch. He averaged 18 points a game in the last month of the season as the Suns made an unsuccessful bid for a playoff berth.
“It just let me know that I can still compete against Carmelo Anthony,” Hill said. “I can still compete against guys in my position.”
He recalled a couple of games in which he actually dunked on defenders.
“I’m running down the court thinking, ‘I haven’t done that in 10 years,’ ” he said.
Where will the last chapters of his basketball life unfold? Phoenix? Boston? New York?
You couldn’t blame Hill, who has two young children, if he decided to stay in Phoenix. But the Suns got Hill at a discount — $1.98 million each of the last two seasons — and will have to pay substantially better than that to get him back. The Knicks are said to be willing to pay Hill about $5 million for one year or $10 million for three years.
Playing for the Celtics will guarantee a chance at a championship, but Hill isn’t thrilled by the prospect of coming off the bench.
“I know going to Boston, it would be great winning and all that,” Hill said, “but I’ve missed so much basketball and missed so many years, I want to play. I want to get out there, lace ’em up and play.”
Hill also remembered his father, Calvin, telling him how he regretted not signing with the Giants when he left the World Football League. Instead, he signed with the Washington Redskins.
Grant Hill said he didn’t want to end his career wondering, “What if?”
For Hill, playing with the Knicks, being part of a renaissance, would constitute a championship.
Who knows where Hill’s journey will end? He and the Knicks appear to want the same things. The Knicks are desperate to restore credibility. Hill seems to cherish one last chance to be relevant again on a big stage.
It would be nice to see Hill in New York as part of a rebuilding project. At this juncture, nobody is looking for an N.B.A. championship in New York.
Just hope.
Source
No comments:
Post a Comment