Grant Hill retired Sunday. I’ve always disliked Duke, and because of that I never became much of a Hill fan. But if it weren’t for constant nagging injuries, he’d likely be a surefire first ballot hall of famer. In only his second NBA season (1995-96) Hill put up 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 assists per game. But from ’98 through 2006 he just couldn’t stay healthy, missing an average of 37 games a year (including all but 4 contests in ’00-’01, and the entire ’03-’04 season). Hill kept fighting back time after time though, and amazingly suited up for 243 out of 246 games from 2008-2011, even logging nearly 30 minutes a night at the age of 39.
My lasting memory of Hill will always be his one-handed alley oop from the 1991 NCAA title game against Kansas. I’d rank it among the 5 greatest dunks in basketball history, and he did it as a college freshman while winning a National Championship (it’s at the 25 second mark of this clip):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZD-d_-AcRsA
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