Orlando
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
The last time Grant Hill played in an All-Star game, the nation was still in recent shock that the Y2K bug hadn't ended life as we know it, the league was coming off of its first-ever lockout-shortened season, the Lakers hadn't won even the first of their three-peat performance, and with all the pressures of having Tamia as his newlywed wife, Grant tore a contact lens and without a replacement played poorly in the game. "There's always next year," he told his dad afterwards. Five years later, Grant finally was back.
Last night, after Mrs. Tamia Hill sang a beautiful rendition of the Canadian national anthem, Grant placed one of his several backup contact lenses firmly into his eye sockets, and went out to play a fun little game. The displaced dynamic duo of the Lakers three-peat, Shaq and Kobe, barely acknowledged each other either on or off the court. COBOL and Fortran programmers were nowhere to be found, having gone back underground after saving the world in 1999. And the league was again on the brink of a possible lockout as it acknowledged it was in the midst of renegotiating critical elements of the next collective bargaining agreement.
Surgeries, setbacks, and solitude aside, Grant Hill was a force to be reckoned with. Connecting on alley-oops and grabbing rebounds, he finished with 6 points on 50% shooting, 3 boards, 2 assists, and a steal in just 18 minutes of play. This game wasn't quite an exclamation mark to his comeback tour of the season, but it was a pleasant little semicolon that let him pause; reflect on where he's been; and re-energize for the future.
NEXT GAME
Fellow Eastern Conference All-Star winners Grant Hill and Jermaine O'Neal will face off on opposite ends of the court as the Orlando Magic (28-24, third in the Southeast) host the Indiana Pacers (25-26, fourth in the Central) tomorrow night, Tuesday, February 22nd. The game starts at 7:00pm and will be broadcast on WRBW and NBA League Pass.
TEAM NOTES
Orlando Magic Ball Kid Auction: Bid for a very special experience that you can only have with your hometown Orlando Magic. This is the ultimate fan experience for your child! Get up close and personal with NBA players as your child "works" for the team for one incredible night. (Ball Kid ages 7-14 only).
INJURY UPDATE
Mario Kasun(knee) andAndrew DeClercq(knee) are on the injured list.
Lori Ewing ofCP Sports Newswrites: Carter sang along to a soulful rendition of O Canada, performed by Grant Hill's wife Tamia, a five-time Grammy nominee and a native of Windsor, Ont. Grant Hill made his seventh NBA all-star appearance but first since 2000, having missed the better part of three seasons with a serious ankle injury. The Orlando Magic forward tore a contact lens before the 2000 all-star game, and didn't play well with just one lens in. He told his dad after the game, 'There's always next year.' Little did he know.
Mike Bianchi ofThe Orlando Sentinelwrites: Running off at the typewriter... A new survey conducted by Orange County found interest in the Orlando Magic is just slightly less than interest in the gestation period of the Japanese leaf weevil... This just in: A 2001 White House memo warned the Magic not to draft Steven Hunter
Liz Robbins ofThe New York Timeswrites: Shaquille O'Neal and the Magic's Grant Hill are neighbors in Orlando, Fla., and O'Neal aided Hill during his recovery from his ankle surgeries."I actually had doubts of Grant coming back," O'Neal said. "For the last couple of years, he asked me, could I have the clicker on my garage and I didn't want to tell him no. I figured, hey, he can't play but the guy wants to shoot. He was working hard, working on the game. He's a stronger man than I probably would have been."
Brian Hamilton ofThe Pioneer Presswrites: The low point for Grant Hill, or one of them anyway, was about two years ago at this time.In a nationally televised game, he was matched up against Michael Jordan and the Washington Wizards, a marquee encounter for the player many considered an heir to Jordan's throne. Hill also had something to prove, knowing that more surgery on his ailing ankle awaited. The pain, however, arrived much sooner than that. Jordan smoked Hill in the first half. By the break, the agony from Hill's bum ankle was so great, he couldn't return to the court.