LeBron James was always touted as the ‘Chosen One’ when he entered the league in 2003. He was one of the most hyped high-school prospects before the Victor Wembanyama frenzy overtook the league this year. However, before LeBron made it to the league, another player had shown similar flashes as him during the early days of his career. In an early 2010s episode of the Open Court, Chauncey Billups and Charles Barkley discussed how Grant Hill was very much similar in potential to LeBron James when he was drafted as a third overall pick in 1994.
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As a player, Grant Hill had quite a commendable career in the NBA. The seven-time All-Star has immense respect for LBJ and has often expressed his desire to have played with the King. Furthermore, Hill also agrees that James has faced much more scathe and criticism as a player than Michael Jordan ever did during his playing career.
Charles Barkley and Chauncey Billups compared Grant Hill to LeBron James in an Open Court episode
Charles Barkley and Chauncey Billups in a 2010 episode of Open Court once argued whether Grant Hill had the same potential as LeBron James. Billups argued that Hill’s skills, numbers, and stats all spoke of his potential as a possible LeBron James before the actual LBJ’s arrival in the NBA. Putting forth his argument, Billups said:
“Grant Hill was the first LeBron James. He had crossover, he’s triple, he was double-double, he was the other guy… I’m talking about straight triple doubles, dominate the game, playing defense. The dude did everything.”
While Charles Barkley partially agreed with Billups, he argued that LeBron was 30 pounds heavier than Hill. Furthermore, Hill was not giving as exemplifying performances as LeBron during every game night. Indeed, though Grant Hill had all the potential to be a star like LeBron, he never played electrifying performances as LBJ to make a mark of himself as the Lakers star. Countering Billup’s remark, Barkley said,
“Listen LeBron [James] was 30lbs heavier… But we didn’t see it [Grant Hill’s performance] on a nightly basis.”
Indeed, Grant Hill’s numbers in his early days of NBA career showed he had the potential to be the next great. In his first six seasons, Hill averaged 21.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game and made it to the Eastern Conference All-Star team five times. All of these is what LeBron similarly achieved during his early NBA seasons as well. Hence, it’s not wrong to compare Grant Hill by calling him the predecessor to LeBron James.
Grant Hill’s teammate Jerry Stackhouse also believed in Hill’s potential similar to LeBron James
Grant Hill had a similar style of involving his team and playing unselfish ball games during his career. This is exactly what we see in LeBron James now, who is renowned for his intelligent ball movement among his teammates and for setting great plays for them. Reminiscing about his former teammate, Jerry Stackhouse once said,
“He was cold man, he was cold. You know, cause he was unselfish man. He was like LeBron, from the standpoint of he could handle the basketball, he looked to make plays for others, he could score at will, you can’t really keep him in front of you, of the bounce he can go out to the post and play…probably the only weakness you can say about Grant is defensively. And, then at the end of his career he goes to Phoenix and becomes a defensive stopper!”
Grant Hill was very well a player ahead of his time. There are only very few players who get compared to the King, and Hill has found a well-deserved place in this list owing to his commendable NBA career.
