NBA: 1990s All-Decade third team
Third Team: F – Grant Hill:
1990s Resume: Five seasons, one-time All-NBA First Team, three-time All-NBA Second Team, one Co-Rookie of the Year award, four-time NBA All-Star, 20.7 PPG, 8.0 RPG and 6.4 APG, 22.1 average PER
Out of the 15 players to make the All-Decade Team, Grant Hill played the fewest seasons with only five. So why is he still on the list? Well, because if not for ankle injuries in 2000 that derailed his career, Grant Hill might have been one of the best 10 players to ever play in the NBA. In the 90s, Detroit Pistons Grant Hill was a healthy, unstoppable triple-double threat every night. Basically, he was putting up LeBron James numbers before LeBron James.
Hill is in the top 10 on the NBA’s all-time triple-double leaderboard with 29 career triple-doubles. Aside from the fact that Hill had one more triple-double than Michael Jordan in his career, the fact that Hill accomplished all 29 in his first five seasons is unbelievable. To make the NBA’s all-time triple-double leaderboard in just five seasons is absolutely ridiculous and it’s one of many reasons why Hill’s first few years in the league earn him a spot on the Third Team.
It’s not just about what the ever-present “What could have been?” question that will forever be tied with Grant Hill’s career. His spot on this list is more along the lines of “Holy crap, he did all that in five seasons?” Hill never found playoff success in the 90s, but he never really had help around him. He became the first rookie to lead the league in All-Star voting and did it again the following season by beating out Michael Jordan, who had just returned from his baseball sabbatical. Between his athleticism, solid perimeter defense, signature triple-doubles, head-to-head battles with MJ and the fact that he singlehandedly made Sprite cool, Grant Hill was a staple of the NBA in the 90s.