According to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, former Detroit Pistons forward Grant Hill will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
Grant Hill, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash have been notified that each will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2018, sources tell ESPN. Formal announcement comes at Final Four weekend.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 29, 2018
Before he was drafted by the Pistons, Hill had a great collegiate career at Duke University playing for head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Hill lead the Duke Blue Devils to back to back National Title victories in 1991 and 1992, his freshman and sophomore years. During his college career, he won many personal awards. His personal achievements include the 1992-1993 National Association of Basketball Coaches Defensive Player of the Year, 1993-1994 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, 1993-1994 Consensus All-American First Team, and the 1994 All-Tournament Team and Regional MVP.
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Grant Hill was drafted in 1994 with the 3rd pick overall by the Detroit Pistons. Grant was looked at by many as the next up and coming superstar of the league. Hill won the Rookie of the Year Award and was named to the All-Rookie first team for the 1994-1995 season. He helped Detroit reach the playoffs four times in his six years of service with the team, although they never made it past the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. He was the undeniable leader of the franchise during his time in Detroit.
In 2000 Grant Hill would leave Detroit in a sign and trade deal that sent him to the Orlando Magic and the Pistons received Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins in return. This is when Hill’s health became a huge issue. From 2000-2007 in Orlando, Hill would go through multiple ankle surgeries, and his highest game total for a year was 67 in 2004-2005. When he was healthy, he showed he was still a high-level NBA player. In his final season with Orlando, he led them to the playoffs, but they were swept by his former team the Pistons in the first round.
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The final six seasons of Grant’s career were out west. He played five seasons with the Phoenix Suns and his final season in Los Angeles with the Clippers. Hill had productive years in Phoenix where he played in 80+ games three of the five seasons, and he also helped Phoenix reach the Western Conference finals in 2009-2010, before getting ousted, by the L.A. Lakers, who would win the NBA championship that season. His final season in the NBA Hill signed on with the Clippers as a free agent and only appeared in 29 games.
Grant Hill has always been a player that made us think, “what if.” His times in Detroit were some of the best years of any Pistons player of all time, and it is a shame that he had so many health problems during his career. For Hill to still get inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, shows how much he meant to the game, and what impact he had on it, no matter how much injuries held back his career.
