“We’re thrilled that Grant has decided to exercise his option and return to the Suns next season,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr. “He is a critical part of our success, both because of his skill as a player and also his leadership and professionalism that help guide our team. Grant sums up what the Phoenix Suns are all about.”

The 6-8, 225-pound forward is coming off a 2009-10 regular season in which he averaged 11.3 points and 5.5 rebounds, his highest rebounding average since 2002-03 and his most total rebounds (445) in a single season since 1999-00. In the playoffs, Hill averaged 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds, second-most on the squad, in the Suns’ run to the 2010 Western Conference Finals, the deepest postseason run of Hill’s career.

“The decision to stay in Phoenix was easy,” said Hill. “Our team’s success on the court last season was the result of the efforts of a great group of guys and I’m looking forward to building on that with them and being a part of this team next season.”

“Last year, Grant explored free agency before ultimately deciding to return to Phoenix,” said Hill’s agent, Lon Babby. “This season has been so gratifying for him and for the Suns that he wanted to act quickly to confirm that he will remain in Phoenix. He looks forward to building on this season’s success.”

The remarkably durable Hill, who has appeared in 163 of a possible 164 regular season games the last two seasons, is one of only 14 NBA players who have done so in that span. After playing all 82 games in 2008-09 for the first time in his career, Hill then saw action in the first 46 contests of 2009-10, a string of 128 consecutive games, the second-longest of his career (161, Nov. 18, 1997-Jan. 22, 2000).

A 16-year NBA veteran and seven-time All-Star, Hill has played his last four seasons in Phoenix, averaging 12.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists while playing 233 of a possible 246 regular season games (94.7 percent). Hill last season became just the 18th active player in the NBA to score 15,000 career points.

Hill is a three-time winner of the NBA Sportsmanship Award (2004-05, 2007-08, 2009-10), the only player in league history to earn the honor multiple times. Hill was also the winner of the Suns’ 2007-08 Dan Majerle Hustle Award.

Originally the third overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft by the Pistons, Hill emerged as one of the NBA’s brightest young stars and shared NBA Rookie of the Year honors with Jason Kidd. He became the first rookie ever to lead an NBA All-Star fan balloting in 1994-95 with 1,289,585 votes. Hill has been named to an All-NBA Team five times, including First Team once (1996-97) and All-NBA Second Team four times (1995-96, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00).

A member of the 1996 United States Olympic Team where he helped “Dream Team III” capture the gold medal in Atlanta, Hill played his first six NBA seasons with the Pistons (1994-00) and the following seven with the Orlando Magic (2000-07) after being dealt by Detroit on Aug. 3, 2000.

The former Duke alum helped the Blue Devils win back-to-back NCAA Championships in 1991 and 1992 and is the only child of Janet and Calvin Hill. Hill is married to R&B singer Tamia, a four-time Grammy-nominated recording artist, and the couple has two daughters, Myla Grace and Lael Rose.

By J. Michael Falgoust, USA TODAY

“I don’t know if that answers your question,” he says politely, so careful to address every detail that he’ll quip about his age when he forgets. “Wait, what was the question?”

He’s 37, which by NBA standards is ancient, especially for this Phoenix Suns forward, a seven-time All-Star who missed significant portions of four seasons during his prime because of six surgeries to his left foot and ankle for stress fractures and a life-threatening staph infection.

The patchwork rebuilding effort included skin grafts, six screws, a titanium plate and cutting a wedge from the foot to realign it. The foot has restricted Hill’s jumping ability, but not his sense of humor or purpose.

As he thought of the Western Conference finals, with the Suns trailing the Los Angeles Lakers going into Wednesday night’s Game 2 in Los Angeles, “No one is talking about my health. They may be talking about my age or what I can or can’t do, but they’re not talking about my health.

“That is something I’m proud of.”

Hill isn’t just with the Suns. He started 81 regular-season games — and all 11 in the postseason — and he’s their best one-on-one defender. His 6-8 frame disrupted Andre Miller in the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers and Manu Ginobili in the second round against the San Antonio Spurs.

His assignment got significantly tougher with the Lakers‘ Kobe Bryant, who scored 40 in Game 1, as Hill tries to inspire the Suns past last year’s champs and to their first NBA Finals since 1993.

“He’s the best player in the game. He’s going to get points,” Hill said of Bryant, 31. “You’re just … trying to prevent him getting the ball.”

The role is a major adjustment for Hill, once considered the heir apparent to Michael Jordan, the baby face of the NBA when he was drafted third overall by the Detroit Pistons in 1994 out of Duke.

Hill became the first rookie voted to start in an All-Star Game. He averaged 21.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists in his first six seasons.

But he played hurt during the playoffs, the impetus for his physical deterioration, before going to the Orlando Magic as a free agent in 2000. He missed 199 games from injuries in his first three seasons and 93 games in his last three.

He has missed 13 games in three seasons with Phoenix, averaging 12.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Hill credits Duke University Hospital with the turnaround after he went there voluntarily seven years ago.

With All-Star point guard Steve Nash, 36, Hill has shown invaluable leadership. Phoenix is loaded with young talent, such as center Robin Lopez (second season), point guard Goran Dragic (second), forward Lou Amundson (fourth) and forward Channing Frye (fifth).

“The youth on our team has played such a big part in our success,” Suns general manager Steve Kerr says. “But you’ve got to have a mentor. That’s why our young guys have played so well. (Hill is) an unbelievably smart player, a clutch player. He just knows what he’s doing.”

Despite being so accomplished, Hill had never advanced past the first playoff round. He shied from being the story, especially after the Portland series. “I was embarrassed there was all this talk about me. I’ve always been about what we’ve accomplished as a unit,” he says.

He is more comfortable with how he’s viewed today than in previous seasons.

“When I was in Detroit, it was almost too perfect. I didn’t even like it, with these perfect parents, this perfect childhood,” says Hill, whose father, Calvin, was an NFL running back — a “Renaissance man” to his son — and whose mother, Janet, is an attorney. “Everything was just easy. Going through those struggles … and now being on this stage where everyone’s watching, I think that might’ve won people’s respect.

“I kind of like who I am now. In terms of my career, the injury was horrible. In my development as a human being, it’s been good. I am better than who I was.”

A man of strong character

Hill will take the lead to help players even on the opposing team so they don’t experience his regret by rushing back from injury.

In the opening playoff series, Portland guard Brandon Roy returned for Game 4, eight days after arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Hill was amazed. Before Roy would spark his team to victory in that game, Hill offered words of caution.

“We saw each other at the beginning of the game as captains, and I said, ‘Hey man, just make sure you’re being smart,’ ” Hill says.

“I don’t know if that was the right thing, or an inappropriate thing, to say. … I always feel like if someone’s coming back from an injury, wait another week to be safe. I wish there was somebody who held me back.”

Hill’s words are as honest as his efforts, as many will attest. The diligent person off court is reflected in his determination on it.

“He’s one of my favorite people I’ve ever been around, athlete or non-athlete,” says Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who coached Hill in Orlando. “I just had so much respect for him. People were killing him (for not playing). There was no way he could play. He showed up at every practice. He went on every trip.

“He swam. We called him ‘Mark Spitz‘ because he was in the pool for hours a day trying to rehab, knowing there was probably no chance he was going to play. But he just wanted an opportunity.”

Hill didn’t develop these qualities when he attended Duke, where, as an underclassman, he helped deliver the first national championships for coach Mike Krzyzewski in 1991 and ‘92.

Hill already had them, which has served him well in keeping his career afloat amid turmoil.

“He didn’t want to take money and go. That’s just not who he is,” says Krzyzewski, who regularly speaks with Hill and considers him a friend even as his three daughters see Hill as a big brother. “He owed it to himself and the people he made agreements with to do his best. He doesn’t have to be ‘the show.’

“He knows what it means to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and wait in line. There’s nobody like him.”

Hill reminds Kerr, who won three NBA titles as a role player with Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, of former teammate Ron Harper, who once averaged as many as 23 points with the Los Angeles Clippers. He lost much of his athleticism because of a knee injury and morphed into a defensive stopper who averaged 7.6 points.

“It’s rare for a former superstar to subject himself to a role that is maybe less glamorous,” Kerr says. “I’m sure the injuries over the years have made him appreciate what he has here.”

Player agent Lon Babby went to Yale with Hill’s dad, who persuaded the former litigator to represent his son. Sixteen years ago, Hill was the $100 million man. In the offseason, he re-signed with the Suns for two years and $6.2 million. This season, he won the NBA Sportsmanship Award for a record third time.

“Talent opens doors. But strength of character keeps those doors open,” Babby says of Hill’s continuing attractiveness to sponsors such as Nike, Clorox and LifeLock. “It’s such a remarkable story.”

Teammate Frye says Hill’s contributions to the Suns are just as valuable as they were to his former teams.

“He has a bigger role outside this court, just being a leader,” he says. “Look at where he is and look at this team. We couldn’t be here without him.”

Giving back to his alma mater

Hill has interests far beyond basketball. He’s a 20th-century African-American art collector, a passion passed from his parents, and has staged exhibits.

Now Hill is pursuing a film project with Amy Unell, a teacher at Duke, about the school’s former track and field and Olympic coach, Al Buehler. Hill and Unell took a sports history class at separate times under Buehler.

Hill came on board as executive producer for Starting at the Finish Line this year and has helped raise funds from Duke alumni. When Unell asked Buehler about his favorite students, Hill was among them. “The reason Coach admired Grant and Grant admired Coach is they honor commitment, integrity and hard work,” she says.

If all goes well, Hill would like to pursue another film with Unell on his two Duke championship teams. He also thinks it would be “neat” if he can continue playing basketball until he’s 40.

“Everybody already calls me old anyway. I might as well embrace it,” he says.

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 26, 2010

PHOENIX — You wouldn’t think a team with serious postseason aspirations would turn to a 37-year-old to help rescue it physically, but that’s exactly what the Phoenix Suns did after losing Game 1 of their first-round playoff series to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Nobody on the Suns could do anything with Portland’s Andre Miller, who torched Phoenix for 31 points, so they threw Grant Hill, the third-oldest starter in the NBA, at Miller the next game. And Hill, nearly 20 years removed from his championship days at Duke and seven years removed from contracting a potentially fatal infection after a major surgical procedure, answered with the kind of flashback defensive performances that once upon a time helped make him one of the best players in the league.

Hill held Miller to 12 points in Game 2 and 11 points in Game 3, both Phoenix victories. And if the Suns are going to win this series, now tied at 2-2 with Game 5 to be played Monday night here in the desert, Hill — an All-Met Player of the Year at Reston’s South Lakes High in 1990 — may have nearly as big a role as Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash.

To contribute that heavily to winning a playoff series would be fitting, because even though Hill won consecutive NCAA titles at Duke (1991-92), is a seven-time NBA all-star, and recovered from ankle and related hernia injuries that destroyed what should have been the prime of his career, he has never won a playoff series.

With the national media once again paying attention to the Suns, Hill increasingly gets asked whether he’s obsessed with getting out of the first round.

“No, I’m not,” he said recently. “I stopped doing that a long time ago. When you’re young, you think about your legacy, about perhaps making the Hall of Fame. But when you lose the things you had before, when you face something life threatening . . . the things that obsessed you once don’t any longer. I’m thankful to be here, to still be playing, to contribute to the team and hopefully help these young guys develop.”

After 15 seasons of play and the wear and tear of nearly 900 career games (including the playoffs), Hill is no longer the player who twice averaged more than 20 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in a season. Hill tells a story about how his wife pulled up some YouTube clips one night and Hill was astonished to see just how great he was during his first six years in the league, playing for the Detroit Pistons. The real stunner is that Hill played in all 82 games last season (for the first time in his career), then 81 of 82 games this season.

Nash, Hill’s closest friend on the Suns, said recently: “I’ve been amazed. Forget the intelligence and skill level . . . For him to be this athletic and durable and this fast from baseline to baseline and jump like he does at this stage of his career, given what he went through . . . Even at 37, he’s one of our more athletic players. Obviously, he had to be a superior athlete before. I’m not just completely impressed, I admire him.”

The man who coached Hill for much of his time in Detroit, Doug Collins, now gets to watch Hill in his role as a TNT analyst. And what Collins notes now is how “Grant has become a voice, a leader. He says what’s right, the truth . . . Grant, remember, was a protocol kid. He’s the only child of two only children [Calvin and Janet Hill], and he was taught to always, always do the right thing.”

But as his coach, Collins would tell Hill, ” ‘Grant, you’re going to have to ruffle some feathers to be a leader, to say what’s on your mind . . . I want to hear your opinion, what you really think.’ He started off as a sure-fire Hall of Famer. People forget, when he played for me he was a point guard or point forward. He was third in the MVP voting one year . . . He was just so good.”

Told of Collins’s comments, Hill nodded. “I didn’t get it then,” he said. “I do now . . . But it’s also something most people need to grow into . . . But I’m more secure now. My role is different. It’s more fulfilling, more gratifying.”

Hill could have gone to the Boston Celtics last summer but didn’t. Something felt good about the Suns’ direction to him, even though most prognosticators picked them to miss the playoffs or finish eighth in the Western Conference. They finished third.

“When I re-signed here this summer,” he said, “part of it was the mentor thing. Conventional wisdom in July was that I should go to Boston and get a chance to win it all.” But the Suns had a much better season than the Celtics; Hill averaged 11.3 points and 5.5 rebounds along the way, not that it’s easy.

He arrives at the gym around 3:45 p.m. for a 7 p.m. game. He didn’t stretch at all when he was a young Piston, but now does about 20 minutes of table work before every game with one of the trainers. He lifts weights the mornings of games. He shoots. He does 15 minutes or so of what he calls “corrective exercises.” He spends an hour with heat packs in front of the television, usually watching that night’s opponent.

He could have been three years into a career split between television and business ventures right now but wanted to give it one more chance. And what most would consider a surprisingly good season leads him to say, “Like anything else, anything that is taken away from you . . . you appreciate it more when you get it back . . . And, maybe I shouldn’t put it out there like this, but there’s a chance . . . It’s like we’re figuring it all out. Everything kind of kicked in.”

It’s a small club he’s in now, players nearing 40. There’s Shaquille O’Neal in Cleveland, Juwan Howard opposing him in this series with Portland, Kurt Thomas in Milwaukee, Jason Kidd in Dallas. If it seems like a long time ago that he starred for South Lakes, that’s because it is. Asked if there was ever any real chance for him to play before folks at home, Hill said, “I talked to Michael Jordan back when he was president of the Wizards . . . I think it was in April of 2000 . . . We talked about me coming home, playing for the Wizards. But I didn’t do it for the same reason I wouldn’t go to Georgetown . . . too close to Janet and Calvin.”

Hill laughed and headed for the arena exit. Players say all the time they’re happy to be with a team, happy to still be playing. It’s difficult to imagine any could mean it more sincerely than Grant Hill does. He’s still needed; the Suns aren’t going to win this series without him slowing down Andre Miller. And there’s the chance that even at 37, Hill could get out of the first round, and 16 years into a career of distinction, realize a first.

A 15-year veteran, Hill (Pacific) was one of six divisional winners, which included Atlanta’s Al Horford (Southeast), Boston’s Ray Allen (Atlantic), Cleveland’s Antawn Jamison (Central), Denver’s Chauncey Billups (Northwest) and Houston’s Luis Scola (Southwest).

Hill received 96 first-place votes (2,485 total points) of a possible 315. Hill becomes the first three-time winner in the award’s history (2004-05, 2007-08, 2009-10).

For the sixth consecutive year, NBA players voted on this award, with eleven points given for each first-place vote, nine points for each second-place vote, seven points for third, five points for fourth, three points for fifth and one point for each sixth-place vote received. Each team nominated one of its players for the award. Former NBA players Mike Bantom, Mark Jackson, Tom “Satch” Sanders, Kenny Smith and Eric Snow then selected the six divisional winners.

The NBA will make a $10,000 donation on behalf of Hill to the WellCare Foundation.

The NBA will also make a $5,000 donation to each of the divisional winner’s charities of choice: The Ferst Foundation on behalf of Horford; Ray of Hope Foundation on behalf of Allen; Hammer and Nails and Cleveland Police Athletic League on behalf of Jamison; Porter-Billups Leadership Academy on behalf of Billups; Manu Ginobili Foundation on behalf of Scola;

The annual award reflects the ideals of sportsmanship — ethical behavior, fair play and integrity — in amateur and professional basketball, a key focus of the league’s NBA Cares program efforts. The trophy is named for former Detroit Pistons guard and Hall of Famer Joe Dumars, the award’s first recipient.

Following is a list of this year’s voting totals and all-time winners of the NBA Sportsmanship Award:

Posted: April 5, 2010

Already the only two-time winner of the NBA Sportsmanship Award, Suns forward Grant Hill could win a third Joe Dumars Trophy this season after it was announced today that Hill is among the 2009-10 divisional winners. Atlanta’s Al Horford, Boston’s Ray Allen, Cleveland’s Antawn Jamison, Denver’s Chauncey Billups and Houston’s Luis Scola were also selected by a five-member panel of former players as divisional winners for the 2009-10 NBA Sportsmanship Award.

The NBA Sportsmanship Award, designed to honor a player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court, is voted on by NBA players. The NBA will announce the winner after the regular season.

The 2009-10 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner will be presented with the Joe Dumars Trophy, named after the Hall of Famer and former Detroit Pistons great who played 14 seasons in the NBA and was the recipient of the inaugural NBA Sportsmanship Award in 1996. The six-time All-Star was selected in honor of his distinguished and dignified career and for symbolizing the tradition the NBA wants to recognize with this award.

Former NBA players Mike Bantom, Mark Jackson, Tom “Satch” Sanders, Kenny Smith and Eric Snow selected the six divisional winners from a pool of 30 team nominees. Each team nominated one of its players for this award.

The annual award reflects the ideals of sportsmanship — ethical behavior, fair play and integrity — in amateur and professional basketball, a key focus of the league’s NBA Cares program efforts.

Following is a list of the all-time winners of the NBA Sportsmanship award:

ALL-TIME NBA SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD WINNERS

Inaugural: Joe Dumars (1996)
1996-1997: Terrell Brandon, Cleveland
1997-1998: Avery Johnson, San Antonio
1998-1999: Hersey Hawkins, Seattle
1999-2000: Eric Snow, Philadelphia
2000-2001: David Robinson, San Antonio
2001-2002: Steve Smith, San Antonio
2002-2003: Ray Allen, Seattle
2003-2004: P.J. Brown, New Orleans
2004-2005: Grant Hill, Orlando
2005-2006: Elton Brand, Los Angeles Clippers
2006-2007: Luol Deng, Chicago
2007-2008: Grant Hill, Phoenix Suns

By Stefan Swiat, Suns.com

Posted: March 9, 2010

The problem with consistency is that sometimes it’s taken for granted.

One becomes so accustomed to it, that it becomes expected. Therein exists the rub with Grant Hill.

Unassuming and matter-of-fact, Hill virtually has gone unnoticed during this recent hot streak by the Suns. The Suns co-captain has helped propel Phoenix to an 8-2 record in their last 10 games, while averaging 15.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and shooting 52 percent over that stretch.

It is a decent little hike in the 15-year veteran’s scoring average this season, which currently rests at 11.8. Hill averaged 12 points a game last season.

But even more important for the Suns has been Hill’s ability to emerge as the backup point guard in the absence of Goran Dragic (sprained ankle) and Leandro Barbosa (wrist surgery). It’s his steadying influence on the reserves that has glued that second unit together.

So what’s been the difference with the seven-time All-Star recently to account for his little spurt?

“I don’t know really,” the Duke graduate admits. “I’m just lifting on game days. Other than that, nothing different.”

Not too long ago, the conventional wisdom in coaching was that basketball players shouldn’t lift too many weights because it would mess up their shot. Then, as the game evolved and weight training became more sophisticated, ballplayers such as Karl Malone and Tim Hardaway became renowned for pumping lots of iron.

Then, like he always did, Michael Jordan revolutionized when to lift weights. Contemporaries of Jordan also lifted during the offseason and some even kept up with it on their off-days during the season, but the rule was never to lift on a game day.

But not Jordan.

Jordan, as well as fellow Bulls teammates Ron Harper and Scottie Pippen, formed a little group that they nicknamed “The Breakfast Club.” The group would get together on game days and lift weights the morning of the game.

“The Breakfast Club” credited their morning workouts with improved flexibility and for a boost of energy for the game later on that night. Hill can attest to similar results.

“It helps me get legs and body moving a little bit,” Hill said. “We don’t practice as much and usually I do those lifts on off-days, but I’ve been using those off-days for rest and coming in early and getting a lift in. My body usually feels pretty good after a lift and it’s helping because I feel really good at night during game time.”

Hill has even begun using the method to help power him through back-to-backs. He lifted before the Clippers game Wednesday and totaled 16 points and eight boards, only to come back the next night to notch 17 points and seven rebounds.

The only two-time winner of the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award says that he lifts at 8:30 in the morning on game days, usually before shootaround. There has been an even more dramatic spike in his numbers over the last four games, averaging 18.5 points and 7.8 rebounds a game over that span.

But the 38 year-old forward isn’t crediting just the lifting for his improvement.

“It’s the meditation,” he joked as he made a yoga-like motion with his hands.

But maybe a mental adjustment wasn’t too far from the truth?

“I guess I see the finish line,” he said. “It’s time to turn it up a bit.”

By Austin Burton

Photo by: Keith Allison
NBA players are mostly creatures of habit. Whether it’s the superstars or the guys fighting for roster spots, you’re likely to uncover a similar pattern of routines: from workouts to eating and sleeping rituals to post-game relaxation tactics employed on a daily basis.

At 37 years old, Grant Hill has endured injuries that would have ended other men’s careers, and yet he still excels today thanks to discipline with old habits and learning to adapt to new ones as his health becomes increasingly crucial. The 15-year vet, averaging 11.3 points and 5.3 boards as the Suns’ full-time starting SF, takes us through his typical game day routine:

MORNING
I get up at 6:45, eat breakfast at home, take my daughter to school at 7:30, then get to the (Suns) facility early. When I get there I’ll do some corrective exercises, go to the weight room, and get some shots up. Then I head to shootaround, which lasts from 9:45 to 10:45. Then it’s 10 minutes in the cold tub, shower up, go home and eat a light lunch.

I wouldn’t say I always eat the same thing, but it’s pretty consistent. For breakfast I usually eat oatmeal pancakes or oatmeal waffles. The lunch I eat at 12:30, that could be anything. The lunch when I get up from my nap, I’ll usually have fish and sweet potatoes. So two of the three meals, I mostly eat the same thing.

The most important thing is to get my body up and running. The corrective exercises, that’s a program I set up with the team’s strength and conditioning coaches: abdominal work, strengthening my glutes, basically stuff that works on your core. I get those in before every practice and before every game.

NOON
I sleep from 1 p.m. to three. I’ll get up and eat again at 3:45, leave the house and get to the arena at 4:30. Then for the next hour and a half or two hours, it’s just getting myself ready for the game. That’s my routine — I don’t like to deviate from that.

Like you said, athletes are creatures of habit. We like routine. Whether it’s what time you eat or what time you go to sleep, we’ve got to do the same thing. From the time I wake up until the game starts, I do the same thing every day.

It differs a little bit when you’re on the road. If we’re on a back-to-back, we might get up at 11 a.m. and have a breakfast meeting because we normally get in pretty late from the last game. We might watch film during breakfast and have a walk-through. After that most guys go back to their room, lay down and take a nap, then grab something else to eat and check out of the hotel. Sometimes I like to put on my headphones and go for a walk to get my body moving. I listen to all kinds of music — whoever, whenever. On my iPhone I’ve got ’80s pop, I’ve got Motown music, I’ve got hip-hop and R&B. It just depends on what mood I’m in.

NIGHT
When the game is over, the routine is off. Sometimes I’ll go straight home and go to sleep. Sometimes we’ll go out to eat if my wife goes to the game, sometimes I’ll go out to eat with the guys. There’s no rhyme or reason. Me and my wife will be like, “Do we have any food at home?” Then go from there.

The one consistent thing is to eat right. I’ve always been pretty healthy, except for maybe my first couple of years in the League — but the older you get, you pay more attention to what kind of food you put into your body. It’s not really dieting, it’s just how I live. It’s a lifestyle. As an older player I’m very cognizant and very aware of what I put in my body. I know I’m more sensitive to certain things. When I was 21, I could eat fast food and it wouldn’t affect me. Now, I’m pretty sure it would.

It’s not that tough to maintain when you’re on the road. We stay in nice hotels, so they always have healthy options on the room service menu, at least something like salmon with vegetables. If I go out to eat with the guys, we might go to, like, the Hard Rock Cafe, and you can find something healthy on their menu.

I just try to be smart about it, because it’s crucial to your performance and still being able to go at a high level.

By NBA.com
Posted Jan 7 2010 6:47PM

After 15 years in the NBA, Grant Hill just reached a major milestone — he completed his first calendar year without missing a game. Quite a big deal, considering it appeared Hill was on the brink of retirement due to ankle injuries earlier in his career, playing in only 47 out of 264 games during a five-year period.

Perhaps no NBA player understands and appreciates the importance of healthy living and physical fitness than Hill, who went six for six in All-Star appearances with the Pistons and Magic before the injuries struck.

To commemorate NBA FIT Week, Hill, 37 (but who says he feels like 30), spoke with NBA.com’s John Hareas and discussed how his approach to working out, diet and nutrition has evolved over the years and why it’s important to him being an NBA FIT member.

NBA.com: You just completed your first year without missing a game in the NBA. How much has your approach to physical fitness played a role in being more durable as you’ve gotten older?

Grant Hill: I think it’s played an important role. For me, it’s been an ongoing discovery learning about your body and what it takes to stay healthy and certainly that was tested during some of those challenging years when I was hurt.

Instead of feeling sorry for myself at that time — I’m a seeker by nature — I really used it as an opportunity to learn more about the body, more about nutrition, more about health overall in general, not just in regards to getting back and playing on the court but having an active, healthy lifestyle as I get older in life.

NBA.com: What did you learn during this time?

Grant Hill: Learning to listen to your body. Your body talks to you and you have to learn how to listen to it. When you’re young and your ego is involved, you think you can overcome or override anything.

Also, understanding diet and nutrition and the role it plays and constantly trying figure out what’s best and what works for me. I think diet plays an important role. Managing your body, little tricks, such as using ice, massage theraphy, sleep, stretching, how you work out — all of these things, you become smarter and you figure out sort of what works and what doesn’t work.

I’m constantly trying to learn as much as I can. I don’t feel like I know it all but I certainly have learned a great deal over the last five or six years.

NBA.com: How has your diet and food choices evolved over the years?

Grant Hill: I think early on you learn the importance of cutting out fast food. As you get older, you stay away from sugar and a lot of the sugary drinks and drink nothing but water. Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, fish, occasionally chicken.

I think the thing for me is that it’s not so much what works for everybody but what works for me. I think certainly there are some things that are consistent. I think a lot of the bad foods, the heavy foods, the fried foods, I think those are things everyone can learn from, stay away from or at least in moderation.

I don’t pretend to know the answers necessarily or pretend to have the perfect diet but I know certain foods that are good for you or are healthy don’t necessarily work well with me. I don’t feel as good when I eat those foods. Everybody is different. Everybody reacts differently to different foods.

NBA.com: How different is your offseason now than earlier in your career?

Grant Hill: When I first came in, the offseason was an opportunity to play a lot. I played a lot of basketball. I played year-round, whether it was pick-up games or playing with some of my teammates in the NBA. Whatever the case may be, I was always on the court.

Then I spent many years in the offseason doing rehab and trying to get back out onto the court, recovering from injuries, surgeries and things of that nature. Now, I’m at the point where I’m healthy, which in the last few years has been kind of uncharted waters.

What I’ve found is that cross training is a neat way to stay in shape, staying away from the physical and mental grind of playing basketball every day. What that consists of — and I try to do a lot of recreational activities outdoors — kayaking, standup paddle surfing, tennis, cycling — fun, outdoor activities that you can’t do during the season.

Living in Florida in the offseason exposes you to the sun, which I think is good. Things that I’m getting a workout in but it doesn’t feel like I’m working. It feels like I’m going out and having a good time.

Sometimes, you can just go out for a nice five-mile walk, going out for a walk with my wife. I think the important thing is to try to get the body moving every day. Obviously, I will lift weights and I will use the elliptical machine. If I don’t have access to weights or if I’m in a hotel room, I’ll do push ups, sit ups. The main thing is really trying to get a sweat every day, get the body moving.

The body is meant to be moved. If you don’t move it, you certainly lose it. I know it’s a bad cliché but it really hit home for me when all of those years I’m in a cast and the muscles in the cast around the ankle atrophy and that’s because they’re not being used. Seeing the visual of that really reinforced the importance of getting a sweat every day, getting out and moving and getting some exercise. You don’t always have access to a bike or a health club, but as long as you have a little bit of room, you can get a work out right in your hotel room or right on your living room floor and that’s what I try to do.

NBA.com: Is working out year-round a motivating factor to end your career on your terms opposed to an injury?

Grant Hill: It doesn’t drive me necessarily. Freak things can happen and obviously I’ve been through a lot and I don’t want to go out that way. I would like to be able to say you know I’ve had enough, it’s time to move on. I do understand that as you get older, it’s more important how you train. You can’t not do anything for two months and then expect to pick it back up and be able to play or work out at an intense level and not risk a chance of getting hurt. You really have to be smart. You don’t necessarily have to work long but you have to work smart at what you do. My motivation is, I want to be healthy. I want to fit in my clothes when I’m 50 (laughs). I figure by then whatever’s in fashion now will be back in fashion at that time.

As you get older the one thing that you have to fight is gaining weight and certainly weight gain has a lot to do with a lot of the diseases that are out there. How you eat, how you move and exercise, your attitude toward life, how you train, how you get your rest — all of these things are factors, I think, in how you age. Not that I’m vain or anything like that but hey, I’m an athlete, something that’s been great to me my whole life. Up until now, I’ve benefitted greatly having a father as a professional athlete — being one myself — and I would like to continue to be active as I get older in life.

If there is one thing I’ve learned throughout the ordeal of my injuries was how to take care of myself and how to hopefully prepare myself as I get older.

Look, retirement is going to happen. Injuries — you can do everything right and something freakish can happen. I certainly lived that, actually my colleagues have told me that as well, but the main thing is that it’s not a sprint but a marathon and life is a marathon and hopefully I can be as active as I can and be healthy as I get older in life.

NBA.com: Why is it important to you to join the NBA FIT cause?

Grant Hill: I think anything that spreads the message — I like to say that the NBA is one of the biggest PR firms in the world and the fact that they are putting their name, their brand behind the idea of staying in shape and being fit is important.

Look at the issue in our country with healthcare — certainly that’s been very polarizing. Even childhood obesity — you look at a lot of the problems in our country as it regards to health, wellness and fitness and certainly getting out, eating right, staying in shape, being fit, studies have shown reduced the chances of all different types of diseases and so forth.

So, if we can get young people, older people to get out and do that, then that’s great. The fact that the NBA’s doing it, I’m so excited to be a part of it and hopefully with more and more interviews, we can continue to spread the message.

People who wander through the desert hope to stumble upon an oasis.

Thirty-seven-year-old Grant Hill plays basketball in the Arizona desert and he’s found the fountain of youth.

Hill missed 374 games during his disastrous seven-season tenure with the Orlando Magic, but he has enjoyed a career resurgence with the Phoenix Suns. He played in all of the Suns’ games last season, and he’s played a significant role in his team’s strong start this fall.

“My daughter gave him the name ‘Benjamin Button’ last year,” Phoenix Coach Alvin Gentry said. “He seems to be going the other way.”

Hill looked relaxed in his visit to Orlando last week to face the Magic. Working with Phoenix’s renowned training staff has rejuvenated him. Aside from the specs of white that dot his dark goatee, he more closely resembles the player who started his NBA career in Detroit than the one who hobbled throughout most of his time with the Magic.

“There were times last year where I did things and I’m running down the court [and I say to myself], ‘Man, I haven’t done that since I was in Detroit,’” Hill said.

That has continued this season. Hill is averaging 13.3 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. Best of all, Phoenix has started the season with a 7-1 record that includes an impressive road victory against the Boston Celtics.

Miami’s Dwyane Wade approached Hill during a recent game and asked, “What do you do, man? I want to do what you do when I’m 37.”

Hill smiled as he recounted the conversation with Wade. All the steps he’s taken to stay healthy are working. Hill started to monitor his diet carefully around 2001 or 2002 so he wouldn’t gain weight as he recovered from surgery on his left ankle.

Magic fans booed him relentlessly during Orlando’s 122-100 victory over Phoenix at Amway Arena. They booed him when his name came up during pregame introductions. They booed him sometimes when Hill merely touched the ball.

Hill said he isn’t bothered when he returns to the Am. He feels better about his game and about his role than he did the last two times he returned to the arena. A few Magic employees stopped by the Phoenix locker room before tipoff to say hello. Hill also maintains a home in Central Florida and stays in touch with some of his former Magic teammates.

“I’m at peace,” Hill said. “I know the team’s gone on and had great success.”

Missing all those games earlier this decade makes him appreciate his recent success even more. Gentry tries to give him time off, but Hill doesn’t want to even miss a minute of practice.

Hill’s current contract will run out after next season, when he’ll be 38.

He says he’d like to play at least through the 2011-12 season.

“We’ll see,” he said. “I’m going to play until they tell you, ‘You can’t play no more.’ Once it’s over, it’s over.”

Right now, Hill feels thankful just to feel young again.

Follow Josh Robbins on Twitter @JoshuaBRobbins. He can be reached at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com.