Grant Hill was a terrific basketball player before injuries plagued his career. He was well on his way to being arguebely the best in the NBA in his prime (likely would not have had much on Shaq), had injuries not struck he could have had a terrfic career and been remembered for years to come. </p>
IMO, he would probably be in the top 50s and i think a lot of events for the magic would change. </p> for example, t-mac would probably have been in the 2nd round, magic are a finals contender stuff like that</p>
He was a monster, no doubt about it. People mention how Bron was the 3rd after O and MJ to average 20/5/5. Few remember that Hill narrowly missed being 3rd, with a scoring average of 19.9. Talk about close margins.</p> Still, its impossible to comment on Hill definitively. He played for a number of years healthy(6 i believe), and didn't seem to be able to lift his team. Would that have changed with TMac? Maybe, maybe not. Remember, he had a terrific Jerry Stackhouse playing alongside him in Detroit. TMac never fully stepped up playing in Vince's shadow in Toronto, and there's a chance he wouldn't have taken off in Orlando if Hill had been healthy. I mean, the main reason he exploded was b/c he was the only Magic player who could put the ball in the hoop. I don't mean he woudln't have been good, since he was already, but he definitely wouldn't have had the onus put on him the way it was in real life.</p> As for Hill, he may have continually put up good numbers, but I doubt he'd have done anything spectacular.</p>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (peg182)</div><div class='quotemain'>i miss the healthy Grant Hill. wasn't he a triple double machine, like Kidd?</div></p> Yes. Had he not had so many injuries, he would have had one terrific career.</p> </p>
Imagine if Orlando had known the future and convinced Tim Duncan to sign with them rather than wasting the money on Hill. For those who don't remember, Duncan was extremely close to signing with Orlando but then decided to return back to San Antonio. If the Magic had pursued him harder rather than being hesistant and going after him and Hill at the same time, we may have landed him. McGrady and Duncan would have been one crazy duo that may have been able to compete with Kobe and Shaq in some very exciting Finals series.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (starman85 @ Sep 22 2007, 07:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'> Remember, he had a terrific Jerry Stackhouse playing alongside him in Detroit.... As for Hill, he may have continually put up good numbers, but I doubt he'd have done anything spectacular.</p></div> At his peak, he was getting triple doubles with more regularity than Kidd, and was considered a top 5 player in a league that boasted Jordan, Olajuwon, Malone, Barkley, Shaq, etc. If you simply extrapolate what his 15-year career would have been based on his numbers prior to the injury & staph infection, he would end up with somehting along the lines of 22 ppg, 8 rpg, 7 apg on 48% FG & 75% FT.. And while the current Lebron makes those numbers not seem as amazing, they are very much so.. and are easily on par with many of the players in the hall of fame. Stackhouse for MANY years was considered a team cancer who couldn't coexist with anyone who got more shot attempts than he did. He couldn't coexist with Iverson in Philly, then Hill in Detroit, then later on Jordan in Washington.. People forget that before he became the Mav's 6th man, he was largely considered a team killer along the same lines as Zach Randolph or Stephon Marbury are today..
I used to idiolize Hill when I was younger. I used to have posters, his Fila gear, jerseys, etc.......he definitely would've went on to be great...the fact that people still throw his name into conversations for the HOF speaks volumes for a guy who was hurt most of his career..........I don't think he'd be as good as Lebron (bron's a better scorer), but he would've definitely left his mark on the game (he's still pretty good today AFTER all of the injuries)...............my boy's Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill will always be remembered as 2 of the biggest "what if's" in NBA history...
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>wasn't he a triple double machine, like Kidd?</div> yessiree....seemed like he was getting one every night..... <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Still, its impossible to comment on Hill definitively. He played for a number of years healthy(6 i believe), and didn't seem to be able to lift his team.</div> well the NBA (specifically referring to the eastern conference) was a lot better back then...you had the Bulls, Knicks, Magic, Pacers, Heat, etc..........
