What Is Dead May Never Die: NBA players who left too soon

Grant Hill

By Dan Lewis (@minutemandan)

Grant Hill is the second Duke-alum to make this list. Although he ended up with a 19-year career in the NBA, Hill was one of the best players in the NBA and injuries cut short what could have been one of the best careers in the game.

His career at Duke netted two national championships, he shared the Rookie of the Year trophy with Jason Kidd, he won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA in the 1996 Olympics, and he made four straight All-Star games. His game was smooth, disguising his explosiveness and power and making him one of the most “got it” players of his time. He would dunk on you, hound you on defense, and hit open teammates like he was buying bread at the grocery store. In his first six seasons, all spent with the Detroit Pistons, he averaged 21.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game. He lead his team in points, rebounds and scoring not once, not twice, but three times – yeah, he was that good.

But those ankle injuries make any conversation about Hill eventually include the words, “Man, if only he hadn’t got hurt ..” spoken like remembering that girl that got away. Hill has been open that a misdiagnosis of an ankle injury held back his career. Playing through pain in an effort to appear tough only ended up with Hill battling injuries for years before finding relief in the Arizona desert after a disastrous campaign in Orlando.

After signing with the Magic in 2000, Hill was supposed to team up with Tracy McGrady to form one of the best duos in the league. But 47 games in three seasons isn’t exactly a way to find success. Four years of battling injuries, with a touch of MRSA to recover from meant that Grant Hill became Grant Hill, former superstar and part of the “if only” club.

Which Grant Hill will you remember? The one that was the star of the 90’s Pistons team, the injury-report mainstay of the early 2000’s Magic, or the elder statesman of the NBA playing out his career in Phoenix and Los Angeles? Either way, what is dead may never die.