Los Angeles Clippers forward Grant HIll announced his retirement from professional basketball on TNT moments before the start of Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers, bringing his 19-year NBA career to a close.
Hill was a member of two national championship teams at Duke when the Blue Devils took home back-to-back titles in 1991 and 1992. The two-time All-American averaged 17.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest during his senior season and was named ACC Player of the Year. Duke retired his No. 33 following the 1994 season—he was the ninth player in Blue Devil history to have his jersey retired.
Hill was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the third overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft and spent his first six NBA season in Detroit. A seven-time NBA All-Star, Hill earned his first All-Star selection in the 1995-96 campaign, when he averaged 20.2 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.9 assists for the Pistons. Later that summer, Hill won a gold medal with Team USA at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Although Hill had the trajectory of a budding NBA star, it was ultimately a series of debilitating injuries that would mark his career. He appeared in all 82 games of the regular season just once in his 18-year career due to nagging ankle injuries. It is largely speculated that Hill's decision to leave Detroit concerned the team's medical staff's mismanagement of these injuries.
Hill made the move to the Orlando Magic for the 2000-01 season, but played a combined 47 games in his first four seasons with the Magic. He showed a bit of resurgence in the 2004-05 campaign, when he averaged 19.7 points per contest. He then spent five seasons with the Phoenix Suns before playing the final year of his career in Los Angeles at age 40. Continuing to be hampered by injuries, Hill appeared in just 29 games for the Clippers, averaging 3.2 points per contest.
The 6-foot-8 forward averaged 16.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game in 18 NBA seasons.
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