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Hill's superstar status goes beyond basketball court**
GREENSBORO -- The advertisements claimed the Oct. 20 event in the Greensboro Coliseum was a preseason basketball game between the Detroit Pistons and the Charlotte Hornets.
But in actuality, most fans would have been happy if only one player made an appearance on the floor. No, not Larry Johnson. Not Alonzo Mourning. The fans wanted Grant Hill, the former Duke superstar, the man who led the Blue Devils to two straight national titles and a trip to the Final Four two years later.
What they got instead was a tired Grant. A worn-out Grant. A "I've been seeing everyone I can in the past few days" Grant. Hill was probably envious of millions of kindergartners as he sat in his locker after the game. In response to a question about being exhausted, the worn-out wonder replied: "I didn't get my usual nap today. I was running around and just made it in time for the bus. I'm a little drained."
Drained, instead of draining jump shots. Hill managed an uncharacteristic 1-for-7 from the floor in the first half and ended the game in single digits with nine points.
While in Durham, Hill did an interview for NBA Entertainment. He also visited the basketball office and participated in a special Pistons practice held in Cameron Indoor Stadium, so that all the Dukies could see Hill in his home setting. With all of the extra things going on, even Hill admitted it sometimes seemed the main focus of his trip--to play in a preseason basketball game to prepare for the upcoming year--was forgotten.
"Basketball seemed secondary," he said. "There was a lot going on [Friday], and it's especially tough when you stay in Durham, with a lot of people coming in. I didn't get my usual rest, but it was still fun to come back and see the usual faces."
The biggest difference between Duke's Grant Hill and the Pistons' Grant Hill is the nationwide attention the superstar is receiving, much of it due to his commercials and television appearances. While at Duke, Hill was most often seen by his fellow students as a basketball player first, a student second. Now he's seen as not just the Pistons' small forward, but a Sprite-drinking, Fila-wearing, GQ-styling superhero.
Don't think so? Here's the proof: One fan behind the press table insisted I put something in my article about how nice Grant's shoes looked. Not how nice his jump shot looked. How his shoes looked.
Then, in the locker room, one fan clung to the latest issue of Essence magazine, with you-know-who right on the cover. Hill is no longer only a Sports Illustrated cover-boy. He's reached the big time with Essence and GQ.
That's not including Hill's first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, when Hill won over the hearts of millions of females by gracefully playing the piano. Appearances on Living Single and the MTV Music Awards also didn't hurt his marketable stature.
But being famous does have a price. Last year, Hill received some criticism for not paying full attention to basketball when he skipped a Detroit team function over the All-Star break to appear on Letterman for the second time. After that appearance, Hill started the second half of the season very slowly, and fans started to notice how fatigue was affecting Hill's game.
"This time last year, I might have been a little naive," he said. "But now, I know what's out there, and hopefully I will be able to handle it even better than last year."
His father, former football star Calvin Hill, noted that pressure is nothing new to Grant. That's true. Hill did face an abundance of pressure with media requests and other appearances while at Duke. But most of that was sports media, and the attention was mainly from the sports world. Now fans who know nothing about the Pistons are showing up at games in hope of catching a glimpse of No. 33.
Outside of his father, who knew a little something about publicity, Hill has two teachers in the basketball world who have seen first hand the pressures of being famous.
His collegiate coach, Mike Krzyzewski, suffered from not being able to easily turn down requests for appearances of speeches. His current head coach, Doug Collins, was himself an NBA player.
Not only that, but Collins coached the Chicago Bulls when His Airness himself, Michael Jordan, was just starting out in the NBA. Like Hill, Jordan didn't become nationally renowned in many facets until he became a great professional player. Put another way, he didn't earn his Gatorade by just being a North Carolina Tar Heel.
The biggest thing Hill has learned is how to turn down requests for appearances. It's the same lesson Krzyzewski had to learn after his back surgery.
"It's a lot easier to say no," Hill said. "[I've] learned how to say no this year. That's something that I didn't do last year."
This year, Hill is used to the new league. But now he has a new coach in Collins, who at one time was just the father of one of his teammates. And while adjusting to the new leadership, he's working on improving his game. Yes, Grant Hill, the superstar, thinks he needs improvement.
"I'm still trying to get better," he said. "I haven't really worried about all the stuff off-the-court--the magazines. I'm just trying to be Grant Hill, trying to play ball, trying to get better, trying to help this team win."
John Seelke is a Trinity senior and an associate sports editor of The Chronicle.
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