It’s hard for Grant Hill to escape history. Every time someone sees the former Duke forward in his role as a CBS/Turner analyst for the NCAA Tournament I’ll bet they are thinking about “The Shot.” The 1992 Elite 8 classic between Duke and Kentucky that ended with Christian Laettner’s buzzer-beating game winner in overtime. Hill delivered the pass from under his own basket and Laettner hit the game winner sending the Blue Devils to the Final Four. Now it’s Hill’s job to analyze passes, shots and buzzer beaters on what will be Jim Nantz’s last Final Four broadcasts.
Hill had a decorated career at Duke and in the NBA. He was the 1994 ACC Player of the Year, a two-time NCAA All-American and a two-time National Champion. His number 33 hangs in the rafters at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Upon graduating, Hill was selected by the Pistons with the third overall pick in the NBA Draft. He shared the 1995 NBA Rookie of the Year Award with Jason Kidd. Hill was a 7-time NBA All-Star. He scored just over 17-thousand NBA points and averaged 16.7 points a game during his career.
Injuries probably prevented him from being even better than he was. In 2013 he retired from the NBA after an 18-year career. and in 2018 he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Before his induction, Hill got involved in ownership of an NBA Franchise. Hill and Tony Ressler were a part of a group that bought the Atlanta Hawks in 2015. He is the Vice Chairman of the Board with the Hawks.
ROAD TO THE FINAL FOUR WITH CBS/TURNER
Hill began his broadcasting career in 2013, by co-hosting the relaunch of NBA Inside Stuff on NBA-TV from 2013-18, alongside Kristen Ledlow. Hill was also part of the TNT broadcast of the NCAA Tournament and their coverage of the NBA Playoffs, before his current role. As part of the Turner family, Hill was an NBA-TV studio analyst on NBA Game Time and on TNT’s Inside the NBA.
His rise to the top broadcast team on CBS/Turner’s NCAA Final Four games, came as a big surprise to the Hall of Fame player. He recalled the story about his ascension in an interview with Yahoo Sports in 2017. Hill was a rookie all over again, and was very young in the broadcasting game, when he received a message from his boss, who wanted to see him.
“I’m thinking I have to go to the principal’s office and they’re going to tell me how bad I am,” Hill told Yahoo. “Instead, he’s like, ‘Hey, we want you to do the Final Four with Jim Nantz and Bill Raftery.’”
The stars aligned for him after a series of events gave him the break. Steve Kerr left to coach the Golden State Warriors in May 2014 and Greg Anthony was arrested on a charge of soliciting a prostitute eight months later. CBS/Turner was in a mad scramble to find replacements to put on the broadcast with Jim Nantz. The network decided to use former coach Bill Raftery and Hill because they could come at the games from different perspectives.
All of this was happening in early 2015, just a couple of years after Hill retired from the NBA. He had only called a few NBA games for Turner and had some experience with the NCAA Tournament as a studio analyst. The thing was, Hill wasn’t even sure that broadcasting was something he wanted to pursue as a long-term post NBA career.
“Honestly, full disclosure, I didn’t think I was ready at the time,” Hill told Yahoo in 2017. “I didn’t know what I was doing. I had no clue. But I also was smart enough to realize this opportunity may not come along again when I think I’m ready, so I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
AS AN ANALYST
He was certainly ‘green’ at the beginning. How could anyone really have expected more? In his early games as part of the trio, Hill seemed very passive. He was only comfortable jumping in after Raftery made a point or when either Raftery or Nantz asked him a question. Hill sometimes sounded more like a guest in the booth. Nantz and Raftery had to incorporate Hill into the broadcast by symbolically pushing him to talk. Hill was the rookie joining a veteran team and was respecting the established players a little too much.
“I think he deferred a lot more at the beginning because he’s a gentleman,” Raftery told Yahoo. “Now he’s really ready to jump in when he has a good thought without feeling like he offended Jim or I. That’s a normal progression for anyone.”
I mean, think about his credentials, he checks all the boxes. NCAA Champion and Hall of Fame NBA Player. Credibility was never an issue. Fitting in was the only challenge.
It didn’t take long for Hill to assimilate himself into that established broadcast. Getting some games with the guys certainly helped and developing a stronger relationship with Nantz and Raftery on and off the air was essential. The progression was pretty quick. The confidence Hill had in himself was on full display in just his second Final Four broadcast. In the Championship Game between Villanova and North Carolina, the game was on the line in the final seconds. Hill had no trouble jumping in when he noticed how the Villanova play was developing in front of him.
Nantz: Villanova trying to go the length of the court, with Arcidiacono. Three seconds at midcourt!
Hill: Watch Jenkins.
Nantz: Gives it to Jenkins! [time expires] For the championship… YES!
Raftery: [overlapping Nantz, voice breaking] OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Nantz: Villanova! Phenomenal! The national champions, with Jenkins hitting the winner at the buzzer!
That’s what Hill is there for. He was an intelligent player in both college and the NBA and can see things that not many in the audience can in those instances. He jumped in at the correct moment, not getting in the way of the shot or the final call. That only happens when you feel confident and comfortable within the framework of a network telecast. He’s playing off both Nantz and Raftery from time to time. They now sound like three good friends.
Not only has Hill sounded more authoritative on air, he’s also allowing some of his personality to show. He’s much more at ease on the broadcast and able to just do his thing and he’s doing it quite well.
DID YOU KNOW?
There is a story behind an infamous haircut that was ruined by an alcoholic barber just before the 1991 Final Four would be televised to the nation. Hill recalled the story to basketballnetwork.net in January. Hill and his roommate at the time, Antonio “Tony” Lang, went to get themselves “right” at the barber they regularly visited who happened to have a drinking problem.
“I get in the chair, so the mirror is behind me, so my back is to the mirror while he is cutting me and Lang is sitting in front of me. Lang is trying to give me that look – dude is messing you up! I don’t know what happened. I’m mad now, I am about to go on national TV with this head.”
Before the ‘makeover’ he had a clean high-top hairstyle, and after that he was almost completely bald. The haircut was so bad it was a topic before the game even tipped off. Coach K did not want that incident to disrupt the winning rhythm as the Blue Devils began the Final Four.
“He (Coach K) said before the game, look, I don’t want y’all doing anything crazy, like going bald or do something different than you would normally do. Now I would just cut it down and bald it, but back then, it was 1991, it was a different time.”
Hill listened and didn’t do anything to jeopardize a win. He played 28 minutes and notched 10 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Hill also made an iconic alley-oop at the beginning of the game. However, to this day, he can’t watch the highlights of those games, thanks to the botched haircut.
“I go out in one of the most historic Final Fours, and have some iconic moments with the worst haircut. I can’t even watch those games, I just think of that story. My head was terrible, man!”
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
