Suns on the ‘Grant Hill jilted suitors’ road trip
Jan 16, 2012, 10:02 PM | Updated: 10:26 pm
It’s the Suns longest road trip of the season.
It’s been dubbed the “Toy Story Trip” with US Airways Center being taken over by Disney On Ice’s Toy Story 3.
Another name for the five-game, nine-day journey: the “Grant Hill jilted suitors” trip.
San Antonio, Chicago, New York, Boston and Dallas all expressed an interest in Hill’s services whether it was this past off season or two years ago during free agency.
“The main thing,” he said, “is they’re all good teams. They’re all playoff teams. They’re all championship caliber teams.
“Personally, you want to go out and play well against those teams, especially those teams that expressed interest in you.”
Hill called the interest he received a compliment.
There aren’t many 39 year olds who attract that kind of attention, not after 16 seasons. Then again, Hill isn’t your typical NBA performer. Last season he started 80 games averaging 13.2 points, his best mark in four seasons in Phoenix. He eclipsed 1,000 points for the first time since 2005.
That, plus his locker room presence, made him highly sought-after by teams looking to add a veteran piece.
“If you want to know how close I was (to leaving) you’re just going to have wait until I write my book. I figure if Shaq can write a book, I can write a book,” he joked.
“I don’t know, ” Hill continued. “I really couldn’t answer that question in terms of where I was, how far, what the percentages were in terms of me leaving or not. At the end of the day (Phoenix) is what ultimately felt comfortable this past summer and two years ago.”
