NBA

Grant Hill Q&A: Talking one-and-done trend, players resting, state of NBA

AJ Neuharth-Keusch
USA TODAY Sports
The Atlanta Hawks were purchased by an ownership group led by Tony Ressler, which 19-year NBA veteran Grant Hill is a part of.

Grant Hill — a seven-time NBA All-Star, Olympic Gold medalist and current Atlanta Hawks part-owner — recently joined USA TODAY Sports on the NBA A to Z podcast for a wide-ranging interview. He hit on a handful of hot topics, from the one-and-done trend to the competitive fire (or lack thereof) in today's NBA.

Q: You were recently a part of the voting panel for the (Allstate NABC) Good Works Team to select the best student athletes in the country. Obviously a well-deserved honor (for you). But some fans of basketball make the mistake of looking at basketball as strictly basketball and nothing else. They kind of ignore all of the off the court stuff. Can you talk about the importance of making an impact off the court, not only in college but then transitioning those college years into the NBA?

A: Yeah, I mean, it is important. I think, first of all, sometimes we look at athletes, college, professional, we just see them as athletes. I think there's a lot of depth and layers to a lot of athletes out there, particularly in college and college basketball. So this award that the Allstate NABC Good Works Team (sponsored) — what they are about in honoring student athletes for their community work, for their volunteerism. But for them understanding these kids, understanding the platform they have and the opportunity to really affect change and make an impact is really remarkable considering the time constraints that they have as student athletes. I've been there. I know. It's tough enough just as a student. ... I'm just amazed at the level of commitment, the hours that they've been able to devote, the vision they have, and their ability to execute while they've had all this other responsibility associated with being a student athlete. It's really quite remarkable.

Q: To segue to the NBA. Something that's a hot topic, has been a hot topic for a while and will continue to be a hot topic — what's your stance on one-and-done players? The guys who come to college for one year, they are that student athlete for one year, and then they take their talents to the NBA.

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A: I think certainly there are players who have done that and gone that route and been hugely successful. And we have plenty of them that are in our league. And there have been players who maybe have struggled. I can only speak from my own experience. I just don't know if, in one year, I would really have benefited from what a Duke University had to offer. What I mean by that is, the school itself, the student body, the faculty, Coach K, the number of lessons that you learn in team sports. I feel like it really gave me a foundation for success in the NBA, but also for success in business and success in life. Those relationships, those connections, are invaluable to me and are still very strong and very important to me now as I've retired from playing. ... Having time to reflect now and understand how important those four years were. I have issues with it. I wish, we as a league, could address it. Maybe even just two years. But I know it's a controversial topic. I don't know if there's a right or wrong answer, but I know how I feel about it, and I just feel that at least another year of being in an education environment, being around other students, being in an environment where there's not money and guys are playing for not themselves but playing for their schools. There's a real valuable virtue — there's something you can really take from that that I think could be impactful for these young men.

Q: You obviously meant so much to the game and you played alongside some legends in your day, especially at the guard position. You played alongside Joe Dumars, Tracy McGrady, Steve Francis, Steve Nash, and you went up against Michael Jordan. In today's NBA there are obviously a lot of superstar guards. We see what Russell Westbrook and James Harden are doing, it's absolutely incredible. But it's so much that the list of All-Star snubs could make up their own All-Star team. ... Do you, looking at the NBA today, think that the guard position is as deep as it's ever been?

A: Yeah, it's as deep as it's ever been. We have some great guards in the league, but it is a guard-driven league. It's a different league than it was, say in the '90s. In order to win now, you have to have great point guard play. I don't know if that was the mindset back in the '90s. You had to have bigs, you had to have great wing play. It's been that way for quite some time. You have players who have been brought up from the grassroots level onto the NBA in this kind of environment. It's definitely the era of the point guard and you have more great point guards out there than in years past. But I think the style of play is conducive for that. That's not to minimize the play of any of these guys, but it's a different game. And as a result, we see, on so many teams, very talented, very capable players at the point guard position.

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Q: Speaking of the '90s and speaking of how it is a different game now compared to the '90s. A lot of players, current and former, have recently, particularly, come out and say the NBA isn't exactly as competitive as it once was. I heard a Paul Pierce interview yesterday where he said players don't really have that competitive fire like they did in the '80s, '90s and early '00s. Having played then and now obviously being a part of the league, what's your stance on that?

A: I still think the league is fun to watch. I enjoy watching the games. The talent level is great. The game is different. I just called the Wizards-Cavs game on Monday and that was one of the best games I've ever seen, in regular season or playoffs. ... It is a little bit of a different mindset. I know this has been talked about before, so I'm not saying anything that hasn't already been said, but everybody is friendlier with each other than they were in years past. ... I didn't really get to know these guys (when I was playing). Steve Smith and Reggie Miller, I work with them at Turner and NBA TV, I didn't really know them until I retired. I didn't spend any time with them. I didn't hang out (with them). We didn't call each other or text each other. ... I don't want to say hate, because that's a strong word, but that was sort of the spirit. Now, because of social media, because of AAU basketball, because of just, in general, everybody's friendlier with each other. I still think they compete and they go at it, but the idea of going to dinner and hanging out — I just didn't do that. ...

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Q: Another hot topic that I really want to get your take on is players resting. Obviously guys like LeBron, they have a lot of miles on their bodies, six straight Finals, they've been playing for so long, playing so many minutes. Maybe a December road game isn't necessarily worth the trouble of traveling and training and warming up and doing all that. But of course, there's obviously the argument of the fans too. The guys who, you see the stories, they travel 3,000 miles to see LeBron play and then he doesn't even travel (to the game). Being a player and now, again, being a part of the league, what's your take on that?

A: Like I said, I'm old school. I don't like it. Obviously, I missed some time because of injury and that was more sort of an injury being mismanaged. Don't get me wrong. When I was in Detroit, (Pistons coach) Doug Collins, as we got closer to the playoffs, he would rest me a game. And I hated it. I did not like it, I was opposed to it. That's what they wanted, I went along with it, I honored my superiors, if you will. I don't know. I look at, to me, the greatest basketball player ever, Michael Jordan — he played in every game. I always felt like, if he can do it, we all can do it. He missed some time obviously, retired and came back. But he had a lot of miles on his body. That's one of the differences too. I personally don't like it. But on the flip side, as an NBA owner and vice chairman of the Atlanta Hawks, I understand the perspective of the team and wanting what's best. And we've done what with the Hawks. It's a fine line. But as a player? No, I'm not a big fan of that. I didn't want to miss practice. My thing was, they want to rest me, when I got to Phoenix and I was in my late 30s, they would get on me about practice. I'd sneak into practice. Sometimes (Suns coach) Alvin Gentry would kick me out of practice just so I wouldn't do extra stuff. That's just sort of how I was wired and how I was conditioned. You don't deserve success in the games unless you practice. ... That was, sort of, my thinking, my mindset, and I think (the mindset of) a lot of players that I played with during that time.

Follow AJ Neuharth-Keusch on Twitter @tweetAJNK. The full interview can be heard below (starting at the 26:30 mark).