Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history for 75th anniversary

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Grant Hill, Detroit Pistons (Photo by GEORGE FREY/AFP via Getty Images) /

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 68 – Grant Hill

Career: 1994 – 2013

Achievements: All-NBA (5x); All-Star (7x)

Injuries will define the next two players on our list, two players with the talent to be much higher on this list but who never got to reach their true potential. Grant Hill became a household name starring at Duke, and he entered the league as one of its rising stars. He was an All-Star out of the gate as a rookie and averaged 19.9 points per game or more each of his first six seasons.

Hill was not just a scorer, he was an all-around player who dominated the game in every way. He averaged 21.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.6 steals per game over those six seasons, making the All-NBA teams five straight years.

Then disaster struck in the form of injuries, and he was limited to just 57 games over the next four seasons. When he came back he had to reinvent himself as a supporting player, without the athleticism or do-it-all ability. Yet he did just that, eventually becoming a solid starter for some successful Phoenix Suns teams. Hill’s peak gets him onto the latter part of this list, with a whisper of what could have been.