Grant Hill part 1

Grant Hill part 1
Grant Henry Hill (born October 5, 1972) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Suns of the NBA. As a collegian with Duke University and early in his professional career with the Detroit Pistons, Hill was widely considered to be one of the best all-around players in the game, often leading his team in points, rebounds and assists. His time in the league has been hampered by career-threatening injuries, notably during the prime of his career. At age 39, Hill is the second-oldest player in the NBA, one day younger than the oldest player, Kurt Thomas.
Grant Hill was born in Dallas, Texas. His father, Calvin Hill, graduated from Yale University with a degree in history, later attended Southern Methodist University and was a three-time All-Pro running back for the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys, winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 1969. His mother, Janet, is a Wellesley College graduate. After his father's NFL career ended, the family settled in Reston, Virginia, where Grant became a high-school superstar at South Lakes High School and he was selected for the 1990 McDonald's All-American Team.
When the time came to choose a college, Hill's mother states in the Fox Sports documentary Beyond the Glory that she wanted him to attend Georgetown University, while his father preferred the University of North Carolina. Hill chose a neutral path and decided to attend Duke University. Hill played four years with the Duke Blue Devils, winning national titles in 1991 and 1992. Duke became the first Division I program to win consecutive titles since UCLA in 1973. Despite losing two of the biggest contributors on the Blue Devils, Christian Laettner (in 1992) and Bobby Hurley (who both went on to play in the NBA), Hill led Duke to the championship game once again in 1994, but ended up losing to the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Hill won the Henry Iba Corinthian Award as the nation's top defensive player in 1993, and in 1994 he was the ACC Player of the Year. During his collegiate career, Hill became the first player in ACC history to collect more than 1,900 points, 700 rebounds, 400 assists, 200 steals and 100 blocked shots. As a result of his successful college career, he became the 8th player in Duke history to have his jersey number (33) retired. After his freshman season at Duke, Hill played on the bronze medal-winning U.S. team at the 1991 Pan American Games, held in Havana, Cuba.
Hill is also widely known for his role in a desperation play in an NCAA tournament regional final against Kentucky in 1992, which is considered by many to be one of the greatest college basketball games of all time. With Duke down 103–102 in overtime and only 2.1 seconds remaining after Kentucky's Sean Woods hit a floater, an unguarded Hill heaved the in-bounds pass 75 feet across the court into the hands of Laettner, who dribbled once and spun before pulling up to make the game-winning jumper from just outside the free-throw line as time expired.
As of March 28, 2010, he was tied for sixth-most career double-figure scoring games at Duke with Mike Gminski, behind Jon Scheyer.

Grant Hill was drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the third pick in the NBA Draft after graduating from Duke in 1994. He entered the league to high expectations, where many expected him to be the future face of the league in a time when Michael Jordan was retired. In his first season, he averaged 19.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.77 steals per game, and became the first Pistons rookie since Isiah Thomas in 1981–82 to score 1000 points. Hill ended up sharing NBA Rookie of the Year Award honors with Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks, becoming the first Piston since Dave Bing in 1966–67 to win the award. Hill also won the Sporting News Rookie Of the Year award. He was named to the all-NBA First Team in 1997, and all-NBA Second Teams in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. Hill also regularly played in the NBA All-Star Game, where he made history by being the first rookie ever to lead an NBA All-Star fan balloting in (1994–95) with 1,289,585 votes,[3] narrowly defeating Shaquille O'Neal. In fact, Hill became the first rookie in all major sports to get the most votes for an All-Star game.
In his second season (1995–96), he once again led the All-Star fan balloting, this time edging Michael Jordan (Jordan's first All-Star game after returning since retiring in 1993). During the 1995–96 season, Hill showcased his all-round abilities by leading the NBA in triple-doubles (10). He also won a gold medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta as a member of the U.S. men's basketball team, where he had the team's fifth highest scoring average (9.7) and led the team in steals (18). Hill's 1996–97 season was his finest yet, with averages of 21.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game. He became the first player since Larry Bird in 1989–90 to average 20 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists in a season, an accomplishment that has not been duplicated since. Once again, Hill led the league in triple-doubles, where his 13 triple-doubles represented 35 percent of the league's triple-double total that season. He was the league's Player of the Month for January and was also awarded NBA's IBM Award, given to the player with the biggest statistical contributions to his team. He finished third in MVP voting, behind Karl Malone and Michael Jordan.