Grant Hill Owes Nothing To Boobs Like Mike Bianchi

With ungrateful idiots like Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel populating the area, no wonder Grant Hill wanted out of town.

Bianchi broiled Hill under his high wattage bulb of revisionist history in a recent column, whining about Hill's fleeing the Orlando Magic for the Phoenix Suns. Seems Bianchi can't understand why Hill, 34, won't stay with the Magic for one more season instead of going to a franchise where he can at least win the first playoff series of his career before his fragile body gives out completely.

To wit:

"I thought Grant Hill was different. I thought he would do the classy thing. The noble thing. The right thing. Silly me. Somehow, I thought Grant was above being a mercenary. I thought he would make the difficult and decent choice, not the easy selfish one."

Where was Bianchi when Hill was playing thru pain and putting himself thru hell to play for the Magic, a bad team made worse with poor personnel moves and the allowing of Tracy McGrady to be lost? It was the promise of McGrady being around for a while that helped entice Hill to the Magic to begin with. Then while Hill went thru loads of rehab and Lord knows what else to keep wearing a Magic uniform, McGrady and the Magic parted ways. When lesser men would have hung up their sneakers and said forget it, Grant Hill did his best to honor his part of the deal, agreed upon in a sign-and-trade with the Pistons in the summer of 2000.

Bianchi kept Hill on his bitter spit:

"See, "Grant Hill" isn't just a name; it's an ideal. He's supposed to be altruistic, not egotistic. He's supposed to stand tall for what's right, not cut and run and coattail his way to a ring. After the Magic stuck by him for all these years, didn't you think he'd at least stick by them for one more season? The Magic paid him $93 million for seven years of misery and medical maladies and never once publicly complained. Couldn't he have given them just one more season at the bargain-basement salary of $1.8 million, which reportedly is what the Suns will pay him next season?"

What a load of crap! "After the Magic stuck by him"? I'd say it was the other way around. Hill could have quit at any time, saying goodbye to a boatload of money. He could have decided that the pain was too great, the wretched talent surrounding him not worth the effort.

But Bianchi can't stop himself:

"This further cements Hill's Orlando legacy as the worst free-agent signing in the history of sports. Not only does he leave after playing only 200 regular-season games (out of a possible 574) in seven years, but he's leaving on his own two feet. After five ankle surgeries, he finally finished the season healthy last year -- and now he can't get out of town fast enough. He showed up in Orlando with a broken ankle; he leaves Orlando with broken dreams."

The worst free-agent signing in the history of sports? Hardly. If Bianchi would have done ANY research, he could have found many worse. And besides, it was Hill's health -- exacerbated by giving the Pistons 110% and playing on a bum ankle in the 2000 playoffs -- that prevented him from reaching or exceeding expectations, not any poor play.

"He leaves Orlando with broken dreams." Yeah, Mike -- his OWN. Don't you dare blame Hill for the Magic's lack of success or disappointment. He has more class in his little finger than you have in your whole myopic, never-been-a-player body.

"Hill said Thursday it was just time to move on. No, Grant, it was time to step up. Step up and say, 'Hey, Orlando, you stood by me. Now I'm going to stand by you.'"

Hill DID stand by the Magic, and they didn't deliver. They didn't deliver the coach, or the talent, until was too late.

Bianchi himself admits that Hill's decision was fairly easy to make from the point of view of a pro basketball player in his mid-30s. He just wishes Hill hadn't made it, because: "The Magic would have been an infinitely better team next year with Hill on the roster."

So there's the rub: Mike Bianchi would begrudge Hill his opportunity for some REAL basketball success, simply because the Magic would be a better team with him.

Of course the Magic would be better with Grant Hill. He's still a very good basketball player. And, clearly, Hill will be better without the "What have you done for me lately?" vitriol of boobs like Mike Bianchi. Hill put himself thru hell to please asses like that?

DEFINITELY a no-brainer to move on, Grant.