Grant Hill Retires

[dcdevil2009]

Just saw Grant Hill announce his retirement on TNT's pregame show. Best of luck to him going forward.

[miramar]

Despite the injuries, Grant has shown more class and perseverance than any other player I can think of.

I can't believe that the dunk on Kansas was 22 years ago. Tempus fugit.

[NashvilleDevil]

Will always be one of my favorite players to ever wear a Duke uniform. Best wishes to Grant and his family.

[MCFinARL]

Loved Calvin Hill, love Grant Hill. Pretty much everything I have ever heard/seen/read about him is terrific--a wonderful basketball player and a very high quality human being. Not the least of his virtues is that when my (Duke '08) daughter was in elementary school, she announced that she wanted to marry Grant Hill (though memory fails, I'm guessing this was probably Grant's junior or senior year at Duke). Granted, her alternative option was Allen Iverson, so her judgment was, shall we say, somewhat indiscriminate, but still.

[moonpie23]

love me some grant hill...what a great ambassador for Duke and basketball.

[Class of '94]

Grant was a great, great player. I loved watching him at Duke and enjoyed following his NBA career. IMO, prior to the mis-diagnosed ankle injuries, he was Lebron James before Lebron. I remember NBA analysts in mid and late 90s calling Grant a hybrid of Magic and Michael. He was awesome in his Detroit years; and you have to wonder what might have been had he gone to Duke sooner for a re-evaluation of the cause of his ankle issues, or simply would've shut himself down towards the end of his final season in Detroit which might have avoided breaking his ankle for the first time.

That being said, you can see how skilled a player as well as how great an athlete he really was when you consider how effective he was a player and an athlete after coming back from the multiple ankle injuries and being past his prime.

It's kind of weird hearing a person you graduated from Duke with announce his retirement (in anything); but I know he will transition successfully into new opportunities and I too wish Grant and his family all the best.

[nmduke2001]

I'm going to miss Grant. Great player and an even better person.

[OldPhiKap]

Best of luck with all future endeavors!

[luburch]

So does Grant get in the Hall of Fame? Keep in mind the basketball HOF is across all levels.

[JasonEvans]

So does Grant get in the Hall of Fame? Keep in mind the basketball HOF is across all levels.

I think yes. His on court pro achievements put him in the conversation and when you add in his college career and his off the court sportsmanship (he won the NBA's Sportsman/Gentleman of the year away something like 4 times), that puts him over the top.

-Jason "would love to hear OlyFan weigh in on this... and maybe Jumbo!" Evans

[brevity]

This is huge news. End of an era. (This thread should be a sticky.)

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/91...hill-own-words

Loved Calvin Hill, love Grant Hill.

You know, Grant's firstborn daughter would be entering college in about 7 years... no pressure, though.

[Son of Jarhead]

Congrats on a great playing career, Grant. And best of luck in the next chapter of you career. One of the all time best humans to ever walk the planet, and a damn fine ball player too. HOF for certain.

BTW, you really classed up the place on TNT tonight. Finally, somebody to put Kenny in his place.

Best wishes always.

-Busch

p.s. Duke's "Czar of Housing", who retired after your junior year at Duke, says "Hi!" and echoes the sentiments above.

[Indoor66]

Congratulations to #33. A great career, a great man, a great citizen. I am proud he came out of the Duke program. You can watch his announcement here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz8pchgwc8I.

[BobbyFan]

Hard to believe that 21 years after the 92 title, the last active NBA* link from that team has finally retired. The best and most talented player I've seen in a Duke uniform.

Here's a youtube video of his highlights, primarily from his days as a Piston - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEeYFH-qlvk. His first step was just ridiculous.




* I mention NBA because I'm not sure if Parks is still continuing his career revitalization in France.

[Duke71]

The man has always exuded class in all of his choices throughout his storied career...even the suit and tie that he chose to wear and how it draped on his still highly athletic 40 year old frame on the TNT pre-NBA playoff game TV stage when he revealed his retirement announcement yesterday exuded class.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz8pchgwc8I


Among my many, many favorite memories of GH was the eloquent open letter he wrote to the New York Times in response to being publicly referred to as an "Uncle Tom", a I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this.I'm a real wanker for saying this., and worse in Jalen Rose's documentary about the "Fab 5" a few years back. Again, pure class in how Grant expressed himself and his point of view. Knowing that Duke attracts and graduates people like him, makes me feel proud to have received my diploma from the same campus as Grant Hill. He represents what is possible if you don't hang your class on the back of the doorknob when you enter a room.


http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/201...to-jalen-rose/

[g-money]

The highlight of my basketball career was throwing an alley-oop to GH in a pickup game in Card gym back in the early 90's. For me it was one of the defining experiences of my time at Duke. (It also inspired my DBR id.)

In a way I wished Grant would go on playing forever, because as long as he was still playing, it meant I could still feel like a college kid at heart. Alas.

Best of luck to you Grant in all of your future endeavors. I'm sure no matter what you choose to do next - TV, coaching, managing, private sector, politics?? - you'll do well.

[cspan37421]

Grant Hill may be the finest ambassador for Duke basketball we've ever seen, or are likely to see.

Never underestimate the role of injuries - and thus bad luck - in affecting the arc of a player's career. Of course, talent and hard work get you in the game, but luck plays a significant role in keeping you in the game. Grant persisted through some very tough times. Did he not also have to overcome a very serious staph infection following one of his surgeries? I didn't see that mentioned on EPSN, but that can be life-threatening, not just career-threatening like the ankle injury. The guy overcame a great deal to put together a long, productive NBA career, several years of which were truly great.

Sure wish he could have nabbed ring #3 in college, though. I seem to recall that before the Ark game that he joked that he wanted to be able to say to Christian, "You've only got two of those?"

[Tripping William]

And that would be a switch, because usually I am showing my age, but Grant Hill is the best all-around college basketball player I have ever seen play in person. I say that after considerable thought, but without hestitation (even with Tim Duncan as my #2).

[Mike Corey]

Grant Hill's retirement is an excellent excuse to count our blessings as Duke fans. Most fans will spend a lifetime and never encounter a model citizen-athlete; we've been fortunate to have quite a few. But none more so than Grant Hill.

(1) NBA: 17,137 points; 4,252 assists; 6,169 rebounds, making him one of just 17 players to reach all three plateaus. Of the 12 eligible for the HOF, all 12 are enshrined. The others? Koby Bryant; Kevin Garnett; Paul Pierce; Jason Kidd. Also, 7 All-Star games, highlighted by an absurd '99-'00 season during which he averaged 25.8 ppg, 5.2 apg and 6.6 rpg. Also of note: Grant Hill averaged at least 20 ppg, 5 apg and 5 rpg in their first six seasons. The only others to have done so? Lebron. Jordan. Bird. Jerry West. Oscar Robertson.

Grant Hill will be in the Hall of Fame.

(2) College: 1,924 points, 461 assists, 769 rebounds. NDPOY, ACC POY, 1st-team All American, and two-time NCAA All-Tourney team. 2 titles, 3 final fours.

(3) Collector of African-American art.

(4) Interlocutor against ignorance: about race; about sexuality.

(5) Talented pianist.

(6) A great father and husband.

(7) A great salesperson:

And on and on and on.

~

In October 1993, Grant was featured by N.Y. Times columnist William Rhoden. The story was about Hill's expected leadership role on the '93-'94 squad. He was embracing the challenge. But Hill also discussed how this was about more than basketball; how this was also an opportunity to use his position to do some good.

"For me, the reason for playing has got to be bigger than just making money and taking care of your own family," Hill said. "It's got be taking care of your own kind. That's something we had, I think it's something we lost."

Thanks to Grant Hill, we all gained a lot.

And he's just getting started with the next chapters in his life. I can hardly wait to see what he does.

[Edited to add that Grant Hill was the first-ever rookie to lead the balloting for the NBA All-Star game. He edged Shaq as the top vote-getter. This is indicative of not only Hill's talent, but how embraced he was by the public.]

[luburch]

In the most recent issue of SI, they asked four writers if Grant had done enough to be inducted into the HOF, two said yes, two said no.