“I don’t know if he will reach Michael’s level, but the fans love him and he’s a very talented player” – Dikembe Mutombo praised Grant Hill’s talent in 1995
Grant Hill showed promise in his rookie year, but his talent hardly improved the Pistons’ campaigns.
Grant Hill was one of the players who made an immediate impact in the 90s with his versatility and polished image. These made him a fan favorite, with some going as far as to hail him as possibly the next Michael Jordan.
With his rising popularity, Hill became the first player to lead fan voting for an All-Star Game in 1995. One fellow All-Star who was aware of the Grant Hill hype was Dikembe Mutombo. He recognized Hill’s talent but held off on calling him Jordan’s successor.
“Grant’s being billed as the next Michael Jordan,” Mutombo, the All-Star center of the Denver Nuggets, said via the New York Times. “I don’t know if he will reach Michael’s level, but the fans love him and he’s a very talented player. I’m glad he’s here.”
Dikembe’s hesitation was understandable. It was Hill’s rookie year and he wasn’t near MJ’s level yet, though some thought (wrongly) that he had that potential.
A big step in that direction would be to prove he could lead the Detroit Pistons to success. Detroit had been spiralling in the last couple of years and Grant needed to show that he could at least help the team get back in the playoff hunt after failing to advance in the previous two seasons.
Hill never wanted to be ‘Batman’
Hill admitted that he was taken by surprise when most billed him as the next Jordan. He confessed that he was unprepared for that and it made things uneasy for him.
“I wasn’t ready for that. I came in with good success but I wasn’t ready to be that person right away. So I was always uncomfortable with that,” Hill admitted on the “Old Man and the Three” podcast.
This was even though he carried out most of the things Jordan could do on the court. But as far as he was concerned, it would have been better if fans and critics likened him to MJ’s sidekick with the Chicago Bulls, Scottie Pippen.
“I think as far as what I do overall on the court, I see some comparisons to Scottie Pippen. Just trying to do everything and do it well, and also on the defensive end,” Hill confessed.
Talented as he may have been, Hill was never able to lift the Pistons’ fortunes during his stay in Motor City. The best he could do was lead the team to the first round of the postseason, something he did on four occasions.
Individually, there was no doubt that Hill was gifted. But with his efforts hardly changing the franchise’s fortunes, his achievements were futile. And slowly, those Jordan comparisons faded, with Grant’s impact hardly reaping dividends for the Pistons.
Hill had his best years with the Pistons and it seemed like it was the team that he would be with until the end of his career. But an ankle injury altered all that. Grant claims it was not managed well, leading him to take his talent elsewhere in 2000.
Hill moved to the Orlando Magic, agreeing to team up with Tracy McGrady. He hardly played there, playing a total of 61 games for the franchise, with injuries continuing to hound him.
Things got even bleaker for the former Duke Blue Devil, although the Phoenix Suns still believed in him. He had his share of starts for the team but his production was noticeably lower.
After averaging over 20 points and close to 8 rebounds per game with the Pistons, he managed to average only 12.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in 362 regular-season games. And given that he was aging, Grant’s career was imminently coming to an abrupt end.
It was unfortunate that Hill’s career tumbled after a promising start in his NBA journey. Injuries are easy to blame.
But for Grant, there is a consolation for the things he went through. They were lessons learned and the experiences that helped him become a better person.
