0007070145
DETROIT FREE PRESS
000707
Friday, July 07, 2000
METRO FINAL
1A
Photo
Grant Hill has told the Pistons that he will sign with the Orlando Magic as a
free agent. MORE COVERAGE: SPORTS, 1G
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 2000, Detroit Free Press
IT'S OFFICIAL: GRANT'S GONE
THERE GOES the franchise player, out the door, headed for Space Mountain. What
began with great fanfare six years ago -- a press conference, smiles for the
cameras, a new uniform, a promise of a long-term future -- ended with one
late-night phone call Thursday from Grant Hill, a phone call that should have
come days earlier, a phone call that, truth be told, should not have been a
call at all, but an in-person meeting, if only out of respect.
Hill, a man of manners, was lacking those manners this week. He dissed the
Pistons, in NBA parlance, then apologized over the phone. Ah, well. That's how
it goes when you change partners. The new love gets the hugs and kisses. The
old one gets the uncomfortable "sorry ...thanks for everything" before the
click of the receiver.
So Hill finally made it official, finally confirmed to Pistons president of
basketball operations Joe Dumars, a man who had been his teammate and tutor, a
man he supposedly respected as much as any person in the league, and told him
that he was going to Orlando, no matter what -- even if the Magic didn't make
the playoffs last season, even if Tim Duncan doesn't join him.
"Too good an opportunity to pass up" was the operative explanation Hill gave.
While I can't, for the life of me, figure out how it's such a good opportunity
if Duncan doesn't go to Orlando -- basically, that leaves Hill and the junior
varsity there -- Detroit now has to live with the flip side of his statement.
That is: Staying with the Pistons, for more money, with Dumars in charge, with
George Irvine as coach, is still not a good enough opportunity to make Hill
stick.
That hurts. Don't you wonder when somebody -- hello, Barry Sanders, hello,
Juan Gonzalez -- is going to say, "Detroit is too good an opportunity to pass
up"?
Not this time. To his credit, Dumars reportedly did not beg or plead with
Hill. He's smarter than that. Whatever is in Grant's head now is not being
shaken out anytime soon.
Others tried. Five teams were wooing Hill here in Detroit the last two days.
I'm not sure if you count the Pistons in that.
I'm not sure Grant wanted wooing from the Pistons, anyhow.
Played out his deal
There goes the franchise player, out the door, after six years. Give him this
much: He played out his deal. He never demanded a renegotiated contract, even
when lesser players were getting twice the money. He behaved honorably, was a
good citizen, gave his all when he played and had some spectacular highlights.
He made us proud.
Which is why it hurts to lose him.
On the other hand -- and perhaps I offer this simply to soften the blow this
morning -- it wasn't as if Detroiters marveled at Grant's performances night
after night. It wasn't as if we lived in a constant state of Hillmania, was
it?
Let's face it. The Pistons, for most of Hill's tenure, had side-stage status.
Their regular-season games were hardly packed. Empty seats abounded. The
chance to see Hill perform never ignited a passion for basketball in this
town. Only when the playoffs came did the fans get remotely excited, and
because the playoffs always ended after the first round, that's not a lot of
excitement.
Detroit might miss the idea of Grant Hill more than the man himself. We liked
the idea that he played here. We liked him as an ambassador of this town. We
liked that the rest of league envied him, that the NBA commissioner celebrated
him, that he was Olympic material and an endorsement king. We liked the
promise we could feel with him every autumn, because he did improve each
season, he did seem to be pointing to something bigger.
But unlike Barry Sanders, who was literally electric -- and absolutely worth
the price of admission even when the season was hopeless -- Hill was dragged
down by the mediocrity of the team. Detroit is not alone. Many NBA cities are
finding fans less than interested in teams that are middle of the pack.
Just ask Orlando.
An exalted hero
There goes the franchise player, off to the sunshine. Maybe it was the
weather. Maybe it was the ownership. I think it was the attractiveness of a
clean slate, a chance to wipe away the few tarnishes on his holster (his
playoff record, criticisms of his toughness) and ride into a town the same
exalted hero he was when he arrived here six years ago.
If it makes you feel any better, Grant will find that Orlando is no great
excitement center -- ask any athlete who has lived there, the best part is the
weekend wooing trip and the obligatory tour of Tiger Woods' neighborhood. Hill
will find the fans there are no better than the ones in Detroit, and that, as
a market, Orlando is not exactly endorsement city. And by the way, it's humid
as hell.
But what's the point? That's all sour grapes. The Pistons gave him the coaches
he wanted, the general manager he wanted, and offered him more money than
anyone else. If that's not enough, you have to believe that what he truly
desired lay beyond this town and this franchise.
He isn't divorcing Detroit. He's simply walking away when the paperwork allows
him to do so. There's nothing illegal about that. And his momentary lack of
manners doesn't erase all the good he did while he was here, or the example he
set for six years.
Hill reportedly will make a statement Monday. The Pistons will release one
today. Never mind all that. You can predict the words.
The sound that said it all was one we won't get to hear, when Dumars reached
the end of the conversation Thursday night and had that awkward moment where
you say something like "see you around," but you both know you won't be seeing
each other around at all.
There goes the franchise. But the franchise is still here. And how the Pistons
solve that paradox becomes the issue now, even as No. 33 disappears into the
hazy sunset.
Contact MITCH ALBOM at 313-223-4581 or albom@freepress.com. Listen to Mitch's
radio show, "Albom in the Afternoon," 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WJR-AM (760).
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