CULVER CITY, CA-Entering his 18th NBA season Grant Hill is very much one of the elder statesmen’s of the league. You wouldn’t know it by looking at the fit and princely-looking six-foot-eight, 225 pound forward. Age has a way of creeping up on all of us. So far, Hill has been able to defy Mother Nature with his Hollywood good-looks.
But you don’t play with the best of the best in the basketball world for as long as Hill has counting on how fine one‘s grand facial features happens to be.
Hill is a true baller. The Los Angeles Clippers wouldn’t have picked him up to add to their roster for the upcoming 2012-13 NBA season if he was anything less. Hill, appearing at the Clippers Media Day, which was held at the team’s practice facility in Culver City, gives the team added depth at the small forward position.
Hill, Matt Barnes, Lamar Odom, along with last year’s starter Caron Butler, figure to give the Clippers supreme flexibility to match up with any team in the league at that position.
“We have a lot of talent, a lot of depth,” Hill said. “We have guys that can play multiple positions and bring versatility. Over the course of the next month, [we’ll be] figuring out roles, figuring out the team’s identity, the team’s personality…just figuring all of that out-that is the fun part, that’s the exciting part. It’s good to do it when you got talent.”
Hill came into the NBA as a hotshot rookie out of Duke playing for the Detroit Pistons. A seven-time NBA All-Star, Hill was on his way to one of the all-time careers in league history before sustaining multiple serious injuries that defied coming back from.
His youthful appearance belies the inner grit and mental toughness of Hill as he bounced back from those devastating maladies to have a very productive career, though not a spectacular one as he once had. Heck, for a while there, Hill was considered to be on his way to being one of the all-time greats with his smothering defense and smooth, all-around offensive game.
This could very well be the last stop for a man who has a long and exciting career. Playing previously for the Orlando Magic and Phoenix Suns, being a part of the Clippers presents a unique opportunity for Hill and the team, in terms of time being allotted to each player. Hill says that is something everyone, players and coaches, has to work together on.
“I think the challenge, collectively, is managing expectations of minutes, because you do have balance,” Hill said. “That can be a blessing, but also it can be something if you don’t deal with directly, you can get in trouble. So, personally, I’m competing. I want to play. I played a lot of minutes last year, and last year was a tough year because of the shortened season, coming off surgery before the season started… I just want to win. I want to win and I want to play a role and a played a part of it.”
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
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