Pulling himself up off the deck after taking a charge is nothing new to Grant Hill. Doing it multiple times in the Suns’ first full-contact session at training camp is another matter.

Still, that sums up the competitive spirit of the 16-year veteran, a spirit that is by no means tamed, even in intra-squad scrimmages.

“With the season around the corner, it’s important to play all out,” Hill explained.”You want to show up and work hard. And that’s what we’ve done. Coach (Alvin) Gentry has acknowledged that and said guys have worked hard and haven’t complained about it. We’ve come out and handled business. We’re trying to improve on some things, but so far the effort has been great. That’s the important thing. As long as you have great effort, you can always get better and camp will be productive. You want to get off on the right note.”

That sentiment is shared by teammate Steve Nash, who has certainly appreciated the Duke alum’s contributions to the Suns over the last two years.

“Grant is fantastic,” the point guard said. “He’s such a great professional and a terrific player, but he’s also a smart teammate. He has all the intangibles, let alone his obvious skills. The fact he has overcome so much in his career, he is one of my all-time favorite teammates.”

Hill escaped the injury bug last season, playing in a team-high 82 games, before re-signing with the club over the summer.

“Going through a tough season here last year made me want to stay even more,” Hill said. “We as players bonded. We didn’t get to the playoffs and it certainly wasn’t a Hollywood story at the end, but coming together will hopefully help us this season. For me, this just feels right, and I’m glad I did come back.”

As for the rest of the team trying to match Hill’s level of intensity this early in the preseason, it’s a safe bet that will occur sooner rather than later.

“Alvin and the rest of the coaching staff,” he continued, “they have a good feel for what we need, knowing when to let up a little bit. It’s a fine line. You want to get things done and accomplish as much as you can. You don’t want to kill people out here. It’s hard to be subjective since I’m one of those running around here, but I like the three days of two-a-days. Preseason is next week, so we’ll have to see when we throw it up for real.

“Our offseason is officially over. 2009-10 has started.”

Amid a chilly start to their first day of training camp in Southern California, the Suns certainly wasted little time working up a sweat.

Phoenix took to the University of San Diego’s Jenny Craig Pavilion for two practices Tuesday, which featured a little bit of everything, including plenty of running, shooting, instruction, weightlifting, stretching, drills and even a little five-on-five action.

“It’s practice, back to the hotel and practice,” said Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr.” It’s a beautiful setting, but it is training camp. It’s work. Training camp used to be even tougher. It’s still tough for the players. The first few days, your body has to adjust. Even though they’ve been training the last couple of months, it’s not the same. Your body goes through shock, but it responds. The guys will be fine.”

Running his first Suns training camp as head coach, Alvin Gentry is grateful to have returning veterans like Steve Nash, Grant Hill and Amar’e Stoudemire to help him and his coaching staff show the younger players and offseason acquisitions the proverbial ropes.

“They know we have a purpose to work hard,” Gentry said. “Steve, Grant and Amar’e have played this way four out of the last five years. Some of the things we’ve put back in the offense will just come naturally to them. I don’t see it as a learning curve. Just getting into basketball shape will take care of it.”

League rules mandate only one contact session per day, so while the morning session was comprised mostly of instructional drills, the evening became a bit more heated, competitively, of course.

“The morning, there is no contact,” Gentry continued, “so we do a lot of teaching and covering the basics. At night, we’ll come back and ‘put on the pads,’ as they say. We only have a few days to get ready to play a basketball game.”

With an intra-squad scrimmage slated for Saturday afternoon at the facility, not to mention exhibition games vs. Partizan Belgrade, Golden State and Oklahoma City over the next two weeks, the Suns are looking forward to a productive, yet low-key camp.

Nash believes it’s a benefit heading into 2009-10 without the distractions that hovered over last season’s squad, namely “two coaching changes, a blockbuster trade and losing a teammate to injury.”

“Hopefully we can have a great training camp and continuity from there on out,” the point guard said. “We’ll be a much better team this year.

“San Diego is great for us. We’re pretty lucky guys to get to come to a great city and a beautiful part of the world. This is a great facility, too, so it should be a spectacular training camp for us.”

Hill added, “It is camp. It’s tough, but you count the days, count the practices and just try to get to Sunday. At the same time, you try and get a lot accomplished in a short period of time. Today was pretty productive. We have two-a-days, and less than a week from today, we’re playing our first preseason game so we need to make the most of our time. We go over a lot of things. The pace will be fast. Thankfully, a lot of guys have played for Alvin. The other guys will have to learn on the run, but we’re not here to hang out, have fun and enjoy the weather. We’re here to get something done, and today was a good first day.”

For those who aren’t exactly the reading type (books, not blogs), NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 2007 novel, “On the Shoulders of Giants,” is going the documentary route. 

The story of the 1939 Harlem Rens, an all-black New York basketball team who captured the sport’s first-ever championship, Abdul-Jabbar also traces the coinciding rise of Harlem, NY, as a cultural mecca – from athletes, musicians and thinkers whose courage foreshadowed the civil rights movement.

Celebrity and athlete interviews for the documentary include Bill Russell, Clyde Drexler, Jerry West, Julius Erving, Samuel L. Jackson and most recently Suns assistant coach Bill Cartwright and seven-time All-Star Grant Hill. On Friday, the Phoenix duo filmed their thoughts on the impact of the Rens, as well as the importance of sharing little-known stories of such important historical and cultural value.

“The Harlem Rens’ story has to be right up there with Jesse Owens, Jack Johnson, Arthur Ashe and Paul Robeson,” Hill said during the shoot. “The only difference is that (the Rens’) story hasn’t been told. Jesse Owens and what he did during the Germany Olympics, that story’s been told. We know the importance of it. We know what sacrifices Jackie Robinson endured and about his courage. We don’t neccesarily know the story behind the Harlem Rens. We don’t know about all the other stories out there of what people have gone through that were significant and just as important as what others have done. We need these stories to be told.”

The documentary is expected to debut on ESPN in 2010.

“Mike and Mike” in the Morning took on a new personality Monday morning as Suns forward Grant Hill played the role of co-host on the show. Substituting for Mike Golic on the ESPN Radio program, Hill discussed what it was like playing against the league’s best players, his favorite memories in basketball and his everyday life.

A two-time NCAA Tournament Champion at Duke University, Hill talked about coach Mike Krzyzewski who over the summer helped lead Team USA to Olympic gold in China. Hill acknowledges “Coach K” for helping him not only be a great person on the court, but off of it, as well.

Cleveland’s LeBron James was also a focal point of the morning talk show, a player whose maturity Hill said “might be more impressive than what he has done on the court.” When asked about defending James, Hill answered, “It’s tough. He is a guy that excels on both ends of the court.”

During the show, the All-Star forward received a call from current teammate Shaquille O’Neal who lists Hill as his favorite player and an overall class act. Hill and O’Neal are not only teammates, but neighbors in Orlando, living in a who’s-who community which also features names like Vince Carter, Ken Griffey Jr. and Tiger Woods.