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Hill's health still a concern

By Rich Hammond
Staff Writer

A few years ago, Grant Hill's image was featured on the side of a soft-drink can. More recently, milk cartons would have been the more appropriate setting to display Hill's face.
Hill, the first on a long list of "next Michael Jordan" candidates, hasn't played in the final game of an Orlando Magic season since he joined the team in 2000. His left ankle has been under the knife more than your average sirloin steak, and he's the poster child for bad luck in the NBA.

So forgive Orlando fans if they are sitting around these days, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Hill is (relatively) healthy and playing well, and the Magic is one of the surprise teams in the league this season, in large part because of his shooting and passing ability at the small forward position.

After five surgeries in four years, all to correct a broken ankle he suffered in 2000, Hill is back. He is averaging 20 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Magic, who had a tough road trip this month, losing four of six games, but remain one of the top threats in the Eastern Conference.

Hill isn't the dynamic scorer he once was, but in part that's his own choice. Despite the ankle problems, Hill remains a matchup problem for defenses simply because of his speed and passing, but he has also developed into a talented mid-range shooter, which has made him that much tougher to cover.

"It's like an onion," Hill told Sports Illustrated. "I'm peeling back the layers as I rediscover my game."

To steal from Shaquille O'Neal, Hill's nickname could be "The Big Qualifier," because every sentence uttered about him seems to include the word "if." As in, Hill would be a perennial All-Star, if He could stay off the injured list for more than a month at a time.

Every time Hill sneezes. Someone on Orlando's training staff cringes. He had a bruised shin last week, which caused a gathering of reporters around his locker, no doubt expecting to hear of a broken leg.

Hill has every right to be bitter, and frustrated, and tired of answering the same old questions, but he remains one of the league's unquestioned good guys.

Saddled with high expectations when he left Duke, Hill clearly hasn't met them, nor has he come close to playing up to the seven-year, $93 million contract he signed with the Magic in 2000, but Hill remains a popular figure in Orlando and throughout the league, a payback for the hard work he has put in.

"Part of me was like, 'Is it worth it?"' Hill told the magazine. "But then I decided I'd been through too much not to give it one last try. It made me realize I had to get this thing right."

When Hill was a child, he sometimes wrapped himself in athletic tape and ice packs in order to emulate his father, Calvin, a former NFL running back. Who knew little Grant simply was practicing for his own career?

Ante up: Las Vegas has emerged as the trendy location for a professional sports team looking to relocate, but gambling might first seep its way into the NBA through another direction.

Dennis Rose, president of an online gaming company called Casino Fortune, apparently will bid for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who have been put up for sale by Gordon Gund.

Rose, who failed in an attempt to buy the Phoenix Suns in June, will try to outbid Michigan businessman Dan Gilbert, who is reported to be offering $375 million for the team and its holdings.

The Casino Fortune Web site even touts the company's interest in buying the Cavaliers, which probably makes some executives in the gambling-conscious NBA cringe. But Rose's company deals exclusively with casino games, not sports betting, which should eliminate any concerns.

Not so Jazzed: The honeymoon is over in Salt Lake City. The Jazz started this season as one of the league's surprise teams, but injuries have derailed the team, and this week the relationship between coach Jerry Sloan and point guard Carlos Arroyo took a hit.

Sloan hoped he could mold Arroyo into an unselfish, John Stockton-type point guard, but on Wednesday, Sloan benched Arroyo for the entire first half of a big game against first-place Seattle.

Arroyo had a brief, but contentious, on-court exchange with Sloan on Tuesday, which led to the benching. Utah lost that game, falling to 10-13 and last place in the Northwest Division.

"I just think the situation from (Tuesday) night warrants a little bit of attention," Sloan said Wednesday, "as to what we're trying to do here as a team, not individually. I'm going to do what I feel is comfortable. That's it."

On Friday, word emerged that Arroyo and Sloan still hadn't spoken about the incident, and now the Jazz is in the middle of a four-game road trip. Perhaps it's time for a little holiday season bonding.

Poof!: The Magic has made a dramatic turnaround from last season, but that isn't enough to keep DeShawn Stevenson happy.

Stevenson, the former prep phenom who signed with Orlando in the summer, this week told the Orlando Sentinel, "I want out of here. Get me out."

Stevenson has seen his minutes decrease and is now a backup to shooting guard Cuttino Mobley. He averaged 30 minutes and 11 points last season with Utah and Orlando but this season he's down to averages of 16.6 minutes and 5.5 points.

Wednesday was the first day teams could trade players they signed this summer, but the Magic, in prime playoff position, probably won't deal Stevenson and lose a component of its success. Orlando probably wouldn't get much for him anyway.

Timing is everything: According to a report out of Seattle, SuperSonics team officials will ask lawmakers to fund a major renovation of KeyArena, which was basically rebuilt only nine years ago.

The team says the changes are needed to provide more revenue, and with the Sonics cruising along in first place, the city just might go for it.