Hill shoots and defends against players who were in diapers while he starred at Duke.

He's 39, but a strict diet keeps Grant Hill in the starting lineup for the Suns.

At 39, Grant Hill is the second oldest player* in the NBA, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at him. Or by watching SportsCenter. As starting forward for the Phoenix Suns this year he and fellow ageless wonder, 38-year-old guard Steve Nash, are representing for the well-over-30 set in a young man’s league where players like Jeremy Lin and Kevin Durant dominate the headlines. The Suns are even pushing .500 and have a shot at the playoffs, which would likely be a first for a team with two starters pushing 40.

The key to Hill’s continued success is his strict focus on diet and fitness. He’s the son of a vegetarian former NFL running back, one of just a handful of players to get their jersey retired at Duke and a 7-time NBA All-Star. He spoke with Food Republic about his diet, his rapport with Nash and his advice for younger players who think they can eat anything they want.

I know your wife’s (Grammy-nominated artist Tamia Hill) single just dropped. She has some pretty serious vocal chops. Any chance we’re going to get a duet?
I can’t sing. She’s the singer. She’s the real deal. I’m just the wannabe singer in the shower.

You’ve spoken about your consistent diet and fitness regimen. Has this compressed NBA schedule affected your ability to stay in shape?
No, other than just being super disciplined and diligent about what I eat. I’m a big believer that certain foods affect your body, your energy and your ability to recover and perform. With the compressed season, we’ve had a lot of games within a short period of time, [so] it’s even more important to really be consistent about your diet. I’ve always done that. I think in the past during the season once in a while I might afford myself an opportunity to cheat or to have something that’s not good for [me], but during this season I’ve been very diligent about eating the right foods.

What are the biggest staples of your diet?
I try to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. [I've] been doing a lot of juices to really complement that so I can I get all the nutrients from raw fruits and vegetables. I’m a believer in eating animal protein, so I’ll have fish, chicken, lamb and I do eat red meat. I try to stay away from sugars. There’s a lot of hidden sugars in foods and drinks. I try to stay away from processed foods. As a rule of thumb, if it was here a million years ago, then I tend to eat it. If it wasn’t, then I try to stay away from it.

Do you ever cheat on your diet?
We used to have a thing on the plane where if we had a road win, we’d get a cookie because they had cookies on the plane. I haven’t really done that his year. At my daughter’s birthday I had a piece of cake and some ice cream.

“As a rule of thumb, if it was here a million years ago, then I tend to eat it.” — Grant Hill

Your teammate Steve Nash is also well-known for his diet and staying in excellent shape. What’s that dynamic like?
This year in particular I’ve been really on point with my diet and I think Steve has as well. It’s good for me and hopefully it’s good for him having someone around close in age with some of the same belief systems about diet and nutrition. I think we both understand at our age a lot goes into being able to go out there and perform, and diet and nutrition plays an important role. Long after I’m done playing I anticipate continuing to eat healthy and making smart decisions about what I put into my body. It’s not just to squeeze out another year of basketball but hopefully to be healthy for the rest of your life.

Do you ever give any advice to the rookies coming into the NBA?
I think we try to, we see how the rookies come in and we remember when we were a rookie. They see the example of the hard work, lifting and all the stuff you do to get yourself prepared to play. But there’s also the diet. When you’re 21 or 22, certain foods may or may not affect you, so it’s hard to understand why it’s important to eat healthy. I think they see two older guys having the most energy and playing a lot of minutes, so people are naturally interested. Like, what are these guys doing? Why are they able to continue to play and be active and have energy and not break down? I feel like as a veteran and a guy who’s been around I didn’t necessarily have great examples when I came in of veterans who ate healthy. So I kinda envy these guys today that have some older guys who have [this] lifestyle and eat correctly. They might not get it, but at least they have the information, and slowly and gradually over their careers they can change. Just as I have, and Steve has as well.

How did you learn to eat?
My dad was a vegetarian throughout most of his football career, and for the most part had a healthy lifestyle. It wasn’t forced upon me. As a child I probably had typical eating habits and I was extremely active.

You mentioned your father—NFL running back Calvin Hill. Did he ever offer you any advice?
I think my first couple of years as a professional I started to understand and have some discussions with him about diet and nutrition. I also started to remember the things as a child that my father did. I didn’t adopt it at the time but it left an imprint. As I became curious about eating correctly, I remembered seeing that at home with my dad.

Do you ever get a chance to cook as a family?
A little bit—my wife from time to time will cook. We have a healthy chef that will prepare meals. They prepare some healthy things for us, as adults, and for our kids. Things like turkey burgers on a gluten-free bun. And the kids, they don’t know the difference. They can still eat the burgers with maybe sweet potato fries that are air-fried.

Any restaurants in Phoenix that you frequent?
There’s a lot of really healthy restaurants in Phoenix. Andrew Weil has a restaurant called True Foods which is starting to spread—they have a couple of places in L.A. We get food from there a lot. There’s a place called Nourish, which is a vegan restaurant.

Besides basketball, you’re well known for having an extensive and serious collection of African-American art. When did you start to become interested in that?
My dad collected African-American art and still does. So as a child and really up until I left for college I was at home and I visited galleries and museums. I never really thought much of it and didn’t quite understand or appreciate it. But when I was in a position to have my own place I gravitated to the things that the art and the artists that filled our home growing up. That’s how I started to get into it. Slowly but surely I started accumulating various pieces of art and the next thing you know it’s like, Wow I have quite collection.

Former Duke All-Americans Grant Hill and Christian Laettner are teaming up with Turner Sports to offer viewers an inside look at one of the most-storied college basketball programs. The first-of-its-kind documentary for Turner Sports, Duke 91 & 92: Back to Back will air on truTV on at 8 p.m. ET on NCAA Selection Sunday, March 11, in advance of Turner Sports’ and CBS Sports’ coverage of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship, which airs exclusively on TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV.

An hour-long documentary, Duke 91 & 92: Back to Back will revisit 1991 and 1992, when the Blue Devils became the first school in nearly 20 years to win back-to-back national championships. Key moments featured in the film include the upset win against undefeated UNLV in the 1991 Final Four, Laettner’s buzzer-beating jump shot against Kentucky in the 1992 East Regional Final, the repeat national title victory against the “Fab Five” of Michigan and the emotional 20-year reunion that took place where it all began — Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The film offers a unique perspective of those seasons by examining the key players, a Hall of Fame coach and memorable moments from an era that helped set the stage for the school’s reign as college basketball’s most influential and successful program, on and off the court, of the past 20 years. Along with Hill and Laettner, Duke 91 & 92: Back to Back includes interviews with former Blue Devils Clay Buckley, Ron Burt, Marty Clark, Bobby Hurley, Greg Koubek and Erik Meek, filmed when they returned to Durham, N.C. in September 2011 on the eve of the Duke Hall of Fame induction of Bobby Hurley, the Most Outstanding Player of the 1992 Final Four, and coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Front: producers / directors Amy Unell and Madeleine Sackler; Back (left to right): Ron Burt, Greg Koubek, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill, Clay Buckley, Erik Meek, Christian Laettner, Marty Clark and Mark Williams.

Entering the 2011-12 season, Duke was 771-150 (.837) at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke University’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, the crown jewel of college basketball’s classic venues, was conceived on the back of a matchbook cover in 1935 and renovated in the late 1980s. Cameron underwent a series of improvements over the summer of 2009 to enhance the gameday experience, while also retaining the revered qualities of the facility in its 73rd year as the home of the Blue Devils.

For seven decades, spectators, players and coaches have understood the unique magic of the Indoor Stadium. It’s the intimacy of the arena, the unique seating arrangement that puts the wildest fans right down on the floor with the players. It’s the legends that were made there, the feeling of history being made with every game.

Duke’s Indoor Stadium was officially opened on January 6, 1940. The building was dedicated to longtime Duke Athletic Director and basketball coach Eddie Cameron, a legend in his own right, on January 22, 1972.

Originally the largest indoor arena in the South, Cameron is today one of the smallest in the nation. Nevertheless, its stature grows from year-to-year. Sellout crowds, top 25 rankings and championships of every variety have become the norm. The “creative harassment” of student spectators has given Duke the honor of being known as “one of the toughest road games in the USA,” according to USA Today and any visiting team that has ever played in Cameron. In its June 7, 1999, issue, Sports Illustrated rated Cameron Indoor Stadium fourth on a list of the top 20 sporting venues in the world in the 20th Century, ranking ahead of such notables as Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Pebble Beach Golf Club.

Despite the changes that have taken place, Cameron Indoor Stadium has remained very much the same over the last 70+ years. New seating, high tech electronics and a fresh coat of paint have not altered, but rather enhanced, Cameron’s most enduring characteristic … its spirit. It is still a building of superlatives.

* Excerpted from Home Court — Fifty Years of Cameron Indoor Stadium by Hazel Landwehr.

TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Held AP No. 1 ranking from start to finish throughout season (18 polls)
• NCAA national tournament
• Second consecutive national championship (1991-92)
• NCAA national championship game: defeated Michigan 71-51
• Third consecutive appearance in national championship game (1990-92)
• Fifth consecutive appearance in Final Four (1988-92)
• ACC tournament champions
• ACC regular season champions
• Mike Krzyzewski was named the Naismith College Coach of the Year
• Four named All-ACC: Christian Laettner (First Team); Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley (Second); Thomas Hill (Third)
• Three from the 1992 squad had their jerseys retired by Duke: Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill
• Christian Laettner’s accolades in 1992: NABC Player of the Year; AP National Player of the Year; Oscar Robertson Trophy; Wooden Award; Naismith Award; Adolph Rupp Trophy; unanimous First Team All-American; only player to start in four consecutive Final Fours

• 320 x 480 (Phone)
• 1024 x 1024 (Tablet)
• 1280 x 800
• 1440 x 900
• 1680 x 1050
• 1920 x 1080
• 2650 x 1440

Directions for Mac

• Download the wallpaper to your images folder.
• Right click or Command + click your current desktop and select “Change Desktop Background”
• Click the plus sign below the list on the left.
• Browse to the location of your images folder where the wallpaper is saved and select the folder. Although it looks like you can select an image at this point, simply click “Choose” on the bottom right.
• Now you may select the image and it will immediately take effect.
• Close the window and you’re done, enjoy your new wallpaper!

Directions for PC

• Download the file to your images folder.
• Right click your current desktop and select “Personalize”.
• At the bottom of the window that opens, click “Desktop Background”.
• In the new window, click “Browse” and select your images folder.
• Next, select the image using the check mark box on the image and click “Save Changes”.
• Close the Personalization Window and you’re all done!

Directions for iPhone

• Download through your iPhone and the image will appear in your camera roll.
• Select the image and then tap the icon in the bottom left corner of your screen that looks like a box with an arrow.
• Choose the option “Use as Wallpaper”.
• You can move and scale it if you wish, or simply tap “Set” and choose if you’d like the wallpaper to show on your Home Screen, Lock Screen, or Both!

Directions for iPad

• Much like the iPhone, download the wallpaper through your iPad and it will appear in your camera roll.
• Select the image in your camera roll and tap the icon in the top right corner that looks like a box with an arrow.
• Choose the option “Use as Wallpaper”.
• Then tap the button at the top right for “Set Home Screen” and your wallpaper is set!

With the proceeds of the event benefiting the Steve Nash Foundation for growing health in kids, Mr. Hill was not going to miss this chance to play for his passions: helping kids and bringing his best game to the cage.

For highlights and details of Steve Nash’s Showdown in Chinatown, including Grant’s strategic goal, celebration dance, and light-hearted rivalry with Arizona Suns team-mate Jared Dudley, read more at Jason Lalk’s article for ValleyoftheSuns.

Grant Hill has an eye on the future. “In my world, competition is fierce on and off the court,” the Phoenix Suns forward says in a new public service announcement. “It’s more important than ever to prepare the next generation to face challenges head on.”

Hill believes exposure to the arts is significant to that preparation. That’s why he signed on to be campaign spokesperson for The Choice is Art, a four-year statewide campaign by the Arizona Commission on the Arts to promote access to arts education.

In his first PSA for the program, Hill describes the positive effects that the arts bring: “The arts teach skills like discipline, dedication and teamwork. And for kids struggling with academic, social or family challenges, the arts can change lives.”

Hill is no stranger to the arts; he and his wife, Grammy-nominated singer Tamia Hill have been longtime patrons. In fact, their 46-pierce collection of African-American art went on tour as the Something All Our Own: The Grant Hill Collection of African American Art exhibition from 2003-2006. The collection featured several major works from acclaimed artists Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Hughie Lee Smith and John Biggers.

“From a young age, my father instilled in me a respect for well-crafted and historically significant artifacts and works of art,” Hill writes in a letter of support for the campaign. “He took me to museums and taught me to appreciate the energetic vision of artists, especially African-American artists. This family tradition of collecting is another reason I continue to acquire impactful works of art. Now, as a father myself, I recognize the value of passing this appreciation on to my two children. They have a natural affinity for creative works, and it is inspiring to see them make their own artistic discoveries.”

A veteran of the NBA, Hill graduated from Duke University in 1994 and became one of the best all-around players in the league at that time, sharing Rookie of the Year Award honors with Jason Kidd. After being plagued with injuries throughout the prime of his career, Hill came to Phoenix in 2007 and joined Steve Nash as a team captain. He won his first career playoff series victory in 2010, when the Suns swept the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals, and averaged 13.2 points per game in the 2010-11 season.

Grant Hill is a seven-time NBA all-star basketball player for the Phoenix Suns. Before he played for the Suns, he played for the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic after playing at Duke University and winning back-to-back NCAA Championships. As an athlete, Grant knows how important it is to eat healthy and stay active. Without eating well, Grant wouldn’t have the energy to be the great athlete he is. Grant eats a lot of fruits and vegetables, and only drinks water. Off the court, Grant is a dad and a husband and likes to cook with his daughters Myla and Lael. Myla interviewed her dad to get the inside scoop on what he likes to eat.

MYLA: My name is Myla. I am nine years old and I am going to interview my dad, Grant Hill. So, Grant Hill, what is your favorite food?
GRANT: My favorite food of all time is probably fish. I like salmon and sea bass.

MYLA: What fish do you not like?
GRANT: I don’t like tuna fish.

MYLA: Just like me.
GRANT: Just like you. High five.

MYLA: What other sports do you like besides basketball?
GRANT: I like to watch football. I like to watch my daughter play softball. I used to play soccer so I was a big fan of soccer—I enjoyed playing and watching soccer. You know, as an athlete I enjoy and appreciate all sports. I like tennis. So I really like them all. Especially the ones I can go out there and play myself. Any more questions, Miss Myla?

MYLA: How often do you train?
GRANT: Great question. I like to train 5 or 6 days a week, then take a day off. I like to sweat and do some sort of activity every day, either lifting or running or riding a bike. I like to get exercise, as you know.

MYLA: Who was your favorite athlete when growing up?
GRANT: Magic Johnson. Dr. J, who played basketball long before you were born. And then my father, who is your grandfather…

MYLA: Who is the awesomest.
GRANT: He was the awesomest, yes. He played football for the Cowboys and the Redskins. He was by far my favorite athlete growing up. Who is your favorite athlete?

MYLA: Hmmm…
GRANT: Don’t answer. Don’t answer.

MYLA: What is your favorite dessert, Mr. Hill?
GRANT: My favorite dessert is vanilla cake with vanilla icing. Yes, nothing too exciting. Kind of boring. But that’s probably my favorite dessert. And sugar cookies. You know I love sugar cookies, right? But, as an athlete I don’t eat a lot of those things. So every once in a while—birthdays, special occasions.

MYLA: How many meals do you eat a day?
GRANT: I usually eat three meals a day, but I like to snack a lot, maybe a handful of almonds or chips and salsa. I try to snack with something healthy.

Grant and Myla’s Quesadilla

When Grant isn’t playing basketball or watching football or joining Myla at her softball games or eating salmon, he likes to make quesadillas with his girls. Quesadillas are quick, easily adaptable and, above all, completely delicious.

Kitchen Gear

• Large plate
• Measuring cup
• Measuring spoon
• Skillet
• Spatula
• Serving plate

Ingredients

• 4  10-inch whole-wheat tortillas
• 1  cup grated sharp cheddar or
• Mexican blend cheese
• 4  teaspoons olive oil
• 1  cup toppings, including a combination of black beans, cooked turkey bacon, diced tomatoes, chopped olives, sliced scallions or chopped cilantro leaves
• Plain yogurt or sour cream, for garnish
• Summer salsa, for garnish
• Guacamole, for garnish

Instructions
Wash your hands with soap and water. Clean the counter top. Gather all your kitchen gear and ingredients and put them on the clean counter.

1. Put one tortilla on the large plate and sprinkle ¼ cup grated cheese on one side of the tortilla. Try not to get it too close to the edge.
2. Top with ¼ cup toppings, then fold the tortilla in half to make a half-moon shape.
3. With the help of your adult, put the skillet on the stove and turn the heat to medium. When it is hot, carefully add 1 teaspoon olive oil.
4. Carefully, add the tortilla to the hot skillet and cook until the bottom is lightly browned and the cheese is all gooey, about 2 minutes. using the spatula, turn the tortilla over and cook another 2 minutes. Move the cooked tortilla to the serving plate.
5. Repeat with the remaining tortillas, cheese, olive oil and toppings.
6. Garnish and serve right away.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. –The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame today announced that NBA star Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns has been elected to the Board of Governors for a three-year term.  He is the first active player to ever serve on the Hall of Fame’s Board.  He will serve as one of 22 members of the Board of Governors, which is chaired by Jerry Colangelo.

“It is truly an honor to be elected as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Governors and to represent the living history of basketball,” said Hill.  “It is important for the current generation of players to get involved with the Hall to help recognize the greatest in the game who have gone before us.”

As one of the most versatile players ever to play in the NBA, Hill has had a successful career playing with the Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic and now the Suns.  He began his career at Duke University where he helped the Blue Devils win National Championships in 1991 and 1992.  After being drafted third overall in the 1994 NBA Draft by the Pistons, he was named the co-NBA Rookie of the Year in 1995 and went on to become a seven-time NBA All-Star.  He was named All-NBA First Team in 1997 and has also received three NBA Sportsmanship awards in 2005, 2008 and 2010.

“Grant Hill has been one of the most dedicated, honorable and well-respected individuals the game has ever seen,” said Colangelo.  “The Board recognized that Grant has offered a high level of leadership and integrity both on and off the court for so many years at all levels of the game.”

The Board of Governors serves as the group responsible for overseeing the management of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Made up of individuals that work in or have worked in the game as well as business leaders that have supported the game, the Board is responsible for the governance of the Hall and its election process as well as to determine ways to raise revenue and increase awareness.  The Board of Governors are ambassadors for the Hall promoting its core mission, which is to celebrate the greatest moments and people in basketball on a worldwide basis.

About the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:
Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was invented, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame promotes and preserves the game of basketball at every level – professional, collegiate and high school, for both men and women on the global stage.

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Governors:

• Valerie Ackerman, Former President, WNBA & USA Basketball
• George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN Inc. and ABC Sports
• Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman, President, CEO and Owner, Manna, Inc.
• Greg Butler Senior V.P. & General Counsel, Northeast Utilities
• Jerry Colangelo (HOF Class of ‘04), Chairman, Board of Governors and Chairman, USA Basketball
• Jody Conradt (HOF Class of ‘98), Former Head Coach, University of Texas
• Charles Denson, President, Nike Brand, Nike Inc.
• George Dickerman, Chairman (Retired), Spalding Sports Worldwide
• Russ Granik, Deputy Commissioner, (Retired) NBA
• Robin Harris, Executive Director, The Ivy League
• Grant Hill, Player, NBA’s Phoenix Suns
• Mannie Jackson, Chairman (Retired), Harlem Globetrotters International
• William Koenig, NBAE EVP, Business Affairs & General Counsel, NBA
• Joel Litvin, President, League & Basketball Operations, NBA
• Joseph LoBello, Chairman (Retired), Peoples Bank
• Harvey Mackay, Chairman & Founder, MackayMitchell Envelope Co.
• Greg Shaheen, Interim Executive Vice President of Championships and Alliances, NCAA
• Tom Stultz, Senior Vice President & Managing Director, IMG College
• Mark Tatum, Executive VP, Global Marketing Partnerships, NBA
• Jim Taubenfeld, Attorney, CPA & CFO, Me Salve, Inc.
• Victor Ugolyn, Chairman, Wisdom Tree Trust, Chairman, MONY Securities (Retired)
• Elaine Wynn, Director, Wynn Resorts

For more information:
Visit us on the web: www.hoophall.com
… on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BBHOF
… on Twitter: @hoophall
… or call 1-877-4-HOOPLA

Hall of Fame Media Contact:

Kevin Foley, Position Sports
480-766-8011
kevin.foley@positionsports.com

Phoenix Suns Media Relations:

Julie Fie, Phoenix Suns
602-379-7916
jfie@suns.com

Hill Ventures Contact:

Gladys Ramos, Hill Ventures, Inc.
407-903-0077
gramos@granthill.com

One day after winding down his 16th NBA season (not to mention accepting his second-career Dan Majerle Hustle Award) in Wednesday’s season-finale win over the Spurs, Grant Hill was a welcome topic of discussion at the respective postseason press conferences of Suns Head Coach Alvin Gentry and Suns President of Basketball Operations Lon Babby.

In his second tenure coaching his starting small forward (Clippers, 1997-2000), Gentry freely admitted he is the worst person to offer up an opinion about Hill, who just came off his highest offensive output (13.2 ppg) since coming to the Valley four years ago. His work at the other end of the court wasn’t half bad, either.

“I’m probably one of the most biased guys in the world when it comes to Grant,” the Suns’ head coach said. “He is a guy I’ve coached the majority of his career. He’s one of those guys who come along once in a lifetime. He’s all about winning. The one thing he has proven is that he still has a lot left in the tank.

“We ask him to do more defensively than any one person in the NBA. He’s guarded the best point guard, the best 2 guard, the best 3 man and the best 4 man. Nobody else on the team has done that. He’s guarded Amar’e Stoudemire, Blake Griffin, LeBron James, Paul Pierce, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Martin, Tony Parker and Derrick Rose. The only person we didn’t ask him to guard was Dwight Howard.”

Gentry thought that Hill’s work on defense against some of the biggest names in the game did affect his success on the offensive end. Of course, that didn’t completely limit the 38-year-old’s all-around contributions. Finishing the season with 13.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 2.5 apg, he was just the seventh player in NBA history to average at least 13 ppg at 38 years of age or older, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Reggie Miller, Robert Parrish and John Stockton.

”I’ve known Grant since 1994,” Babby said, “and even I underestimated who he was, what he does for the team and what he does for the community. I can’t contemplate going forward without him.”

Playing in 80 or more games for a third-straight season, it marked just the second time Hill’s accomplished the feat in his career (1995-98). He’s also the first player to do it after age 36 since the days of Jazz legends John Stockton and Karl Malone (1999-2003).

Wednesday also marked his 313th career game with the Suns – a new four-year, career best for the forward who will gladly suit up, come the next Suns tip-off.

“I still feel like I can play,” said Hill after Wednesday’s game. “I can definitely go out and compete and get up and down the court. I’ll stay in shape and enjoy the offseason. We have some good pieces here. Hopefully we can set the tone when the next season starts and hopefully we can improve on what we did this year. Things will work out. Last year, we didn’t expect it. We came in hungry and put together a great work ethic. We just need to learn from this year and not be satisfied with what we did. We need to come out with a bit of a chip on our shoulder, not be complacent and go to work on day one.”

The award is presented at the end of each season to the Suns player who most personified the qualities of Suns Ring of Honor member Dan Majerle. “As a player and now a coach, Dan Majerle exemplifies the work ethic that is required to be a leader, on and off, the basketball court,” said Phoenix Suns President of Basketball Operations, Lon Babby. “It is that same commitment that is at the heart of this award.”

The winner of the 2011 Majerle Hustle Award was selected based on the results of five voting categories: Suns fans, Suns players, Suns coaches, Suns employees and by Majerle himself. Each voting group carried equal weight in the final selection.

In addition to the award, a $9,000 donation will be made to the charity of Hill’s choice.

Past Majerle Hustle Award winners include:

• Jared Dudley (2010)
• Louis Amundson (2009)
• Grant Hill (2008)
• Leandro Barbosa (2007)
• Raja Bell (2006)
• Shawn Marion (2005)
• Casey Jacobsen (2004)
• Bo Outlaw (2003 – Inaugural award)

Grant Hill's defensive acumen has been one of the few bright spots for Phoenix this season.

He makes it impossible for the Phoenix Suns to move on.

Grant HIll gets in his defensive stance, and doesn’t go for any of Kobe Bryant’s head fakes, and contests just about every shot — all 31 of them — that Bryant shoots in 48 minutes of regulation, and three overtimes, last Tuesday.

He takes contact and gives it; he gets in the passing lanes, he comes up with steals and makes a basket or two himself. But the defensive end is the amazing end. From the time he returns to the game late in the fourth quarter, with 4:43 left in regulation, until he fouls out with 2:18 left in the third overtime — a continuous stretch of 17 minutes, 25 seconds — Bryant goes 3 -of-11 against Hill.

Hill is 38 years old.

And that must drive the Suns nuts.

It should be easy now, watching the Suns set in the West (couldn’t resist), to say this is the end, that it’s time to rebuild, to trade Steve Nash somewhere where he’ll have one last chance to be on the big stage, like when Mister Roberts finally gets transferred from the USS Reluctant to the Livingston so he can take part in the waning war. And that it’s time for Hill to retire, to pick whichever network he’d like to spend the next 15 years working for and get on with his second career already.

But then Nash drops 20 dimes on the Lakers, and throws a pass behind his back,  while double teamed and falling out of bounds, right on Marcin Gortat’s hands. And Hill holds Bryant to 3-of-11 in crunch, just like he held Kevin Durant to 3-of-14 shooting earlier this month — “I bet you Kevin Durant will never go 3-of-14 the rest of his career,” Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry says.

He competes. That is a skill, just like shooting and passing and rebounding. He is a leader by example. Hill and Nash, the Suns say, have had great impact on their younger players like Channing Frye.

“I still feel like I can play a little bit,” Hill said Tuesday. “The guy had 40, but I felt like I made him work for it. If I can still defend decently against the best player in the game, maybe I can play a little longer.”

Unless there is a miracle in the desert, he will play only another couple of weeks this season. A year removed from their run to the Western Conference finals (and the longest playoff run of Hill’s career), the Suns are four games behind eighth-place Memphis in the West — but they lose all the relevant tiebreakers to the Grizzlies and Hornets, who are in seventh. A slew of terrible losses early in the season — “two games against Philly, at Detroit, at Sacramento,” Hill recalled — has left Phoenix on the outside looking in.

Josh Childress, Phoenix’s big offseason acquisition, can’t get on the floor regularly. The big trade in December that sent Jason Richardson, Hedo Turkoglu and Earl Clark to Orlando for Vince Carter and Marcin Gortat brought mixed results; Gortat has gradually gotten used to playing with the Suns, and Gentry has used him a lot recently instead of slumping Robin Lopez. But Carter hasn’t contributed as much, which may explain why Gentry had him in drydock against the Lakers down the stretch and in the overtimes until Hill fouled out.

But what to do going forward?

Nash’s agent, Bill Duffy, has already begun saying that it’s time to trade Nash. Hill is a free agent at season’s end. The Suns could blow everything up and start over. But what if Gortat is the real deal at center, or at least a complementary piece to Lopez? Phoenix could have used a guy like Gerald Wallace at the trade deadline, but it was hard to do everything at once. The best Phoenix could do was use a pick along with backup point Goran Dragic to get Aaron Brooks from the Rockets, who should start reducing the 37-year-old Nash’s load at the point.

But are Hill and Nash enough to build around for one last charge? Is this the same core group — minus Amar’e Stoudemire — that got to the Western Conference finals last year? Or was that a mirage, no longer real without Stoudemire’s production?

“Those are the questions,” Suns president Lon Babby said Sunday evening, before  Phoenix dropped another tough game, to Dallas. “They’re good questions. What we’ve tried to do so far is get better in the short term and the long term, and I think we’ve done that. The first thing we did was sign (forward Jared) Dudley to a long-term contract because we thought he was a core guy. The trade in December gave us a center, I think, for years to come with Gortat, who not only made our current team better but put us in a good situation going forward, gave us flexibility, because we got out from under Hedo’s contract. And we got a Draft choice, and that helped us get Brooks, who we’re going to take a look at.”

Gentry, of course, would love to go to training camp — whenever that is — with the team he had the day after the trade deadline. (That won’t include Carter, whom the Suns will buy out for $4 million instead of paying him $18.3 million next year.) And he wants Hill back.

“The guy should be on the all-defensive team, and I’ll keep saying that,” Gentry said. “And I’m saying that after a guy (Bryant) just got 42 points. But I can tell you right now, on anybody else, he would have gotten 60. What he’s done at his age, and what he’s brought to our team, I don’t know if you can verbalize what he means to our team, or what he does for our team.”

Hill was off the ball more while Turkoglu was in Phoenix. Now he handles it again when it’s out of Nash’s hands. But the Suns have been playing catch-up all season. Those first two months, when Gentry pointed to 17 blown leads, will be the Suns’ downfall.

“If anything, that’s a lesson,” Hill said. “The lesson is we’ve got to take care of business, and you’ve got to do it early. If you do that, when you get to this point, instead of fighting to get in, you’re fighting to get into position.”

And Hill has had to play while being dragged into a controversy of ghosts over the last two weeks, driven by comments made by a teenager 20 years ago. Everyone naturally focused on Hill when former NBA player Jalen Rose, while promoting an ESPN documentary on Michigan’s “Fab Five” era, acknowledged that while he was in high school, Rose thought that African-American players recruited by Duke in the late 80s and early 90s were “Uncle Toms,” and that Duke wouldn’t recruit inner-city kids such as himself. Rose later said that he no longer believes that, that he was only reacting with envy to the two-parent household that Hill and other black players sought by Duke had, and that he respects both Hill and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

But Hill didn’t like hearing his name, inferred or otherwise, coming out of Rose’s mouth. He wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times, saying it was “insulting and ignorant” to trash black players who went to Duke. “I am proud of my family,” he wrote. “I am proud of my Duke championships and all my Duke teammates. And, I am proud I never lost a game against the Fab Five.” Rose then countered with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, in which he said his “Uncle Tom” comments were taken out of context.

Hill had said Tuesday night that he would talk “soon” with Rose. “I don’t want to get into it now,” he said then. “We’ll have a conversation. We’ll be cool and we’ll talk. I’m not concerned about it.” And, indeed, Hill and Rose spoke over the weekend, which Hill Tweeted about on Saturday.

Babby says there’s “no reason to think” Hill and Nash can’t continue playing at a high level the next couple of years. There’s a part of Babby that says let’s savor what we have as long as we have it, everything that they bring to the table in Phoenix in terms of leadership, work ethic, setting a standard that makes an organization better if their teammates accept their example and strive for the same. And Babby, who was Hill’s agent for many years before changing sides of the table last year to take the executive job with Phoenix, says he’s not bothered by questions about whether he can be fair in assessing someone with whom he had a business and personal relationship for 17 years.

“I don’t hide the fact that I have the utmost respect and affection for him, personally and professionally,” Babby said. “One of the great parts of this job is being able to see him play every day … I don’t even profess to be objective about him. I don’t have to defend myself against charges that I’m biased, because I admit I’m biased. Anyone who’s around him is biased. He’s a once in a generation guy, much like Steve is.”

To that end, though, Babby will recuse himself from contract negotiations with Hill this summer, leaving the Suns’ discussions with Hill — and with Babby’s former partner at Williams and Connolly, Jim Tanner — in the hands of Phoenix’s assistant general manager, Lance Blanks. “I’m going to let Lance do it, because I just can’t do it,” Babby said.

But Hill has a decision of his own to make, too.

Like many older players still getting it done — Jason Kidd comes to mind, too — Hill would be thrown off by a prolonged lockout, uncertain of where he’d play next season, or whether he wants to. With every passing day without basketball, it will get harder to decide, harder mentally to gear up for another assault on the mountain, to put off a cushy retirement and a life out of the spotlight with a singing star of a wife, Tamia.

The irony, of course, is that after all the years of injuries, it’s not Grant Hill’s body that’s betraying him. He’s started all of Phoenix’s 70 games this season. Now it’s the mind.

“It wasn’t hard this last time, after last year,” Hill said Tuesday, as the Suns’ season slipped away. “It may be hard going forward.”