Two pieces of information, delivered 12 days apart, would end up rocking Solomon Hill’s world.
One changed his immediate future.
The other changed the rest of his life.
A dozen days after learning that one of his hometown basketball heroes, Kobe Bryant, had died, the former Arizona Wildcat learned he was, according to reports, being traded to the Miami Heat.
The role that he’d carved out with the Memphis Grizzlies — that of elder statesmen in a bubbling young cauldron — vanished in an instant. The bonds, forged over conversations that typically involved everything but basketball, put on hold.
How will he handle it? The upheaval. The new ZIP code?
If we learned anything last week, it’s that the former Hill should be just fine.
• • •
The thick fog that has permeated NBA locker rooms last week did not spare the Grizzlies, even on the road, even in the most famous basketball arena in the country.
Last Wednesday’s matchup between the Grizzlies and the Knicks would’ve been a joyous occasion — superstar rookie Ja Morant’s first foray into Madison Square Garden — if not for the news that had cast a pall over the entire league.
Bryant was dead, taken at 41 years old in a helicopter accident that also claimed the lives of his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others.
For most of the NBA, the loss of an icon was a blow for which no one could have prepared.
For those who hail from the Southern California region, the loss of a childhood hero was almost inconceivable.
For fathers in the league, though, particularly young fathers — and, more particularly, fathers of young daughters — his death was a harrowing reminder.
And for Solomon Hill — a Los Angeles-bred #GirlDad — it was a moment that will change his life forever.
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Why did the Grizzlies deal Hill, along with fellow Wildcat Andre Iguodala, to the Heat?
Start with age. Iguodala is 36. Hill turns 29 in March. The third player dealt to Miami, Jae Crowder, isn’t even 30 yet — but in the Memphis locker room, he was Old Man River.
On a team where four of the top five scorers are 24 or younger and the fifth, Jonas Valanciunas, is just 27, Memphis is youth movement and then some.
With the Grizzlies, Hill was called on more for his wisdom and savvy than his 3-point shot or lock-down defense.
“I can tell he wants to be a mentor or a coach after basketball,” said teammate De’Anthony Melton, a USC product seven years Hill’s junior. “He’s always out there teaching, talking. We have a lot of conversations about what’s going on during a game, the stuff he’s seeing. He’ll tell you, too. He doesn’t mind voicing his opinion. He just likes to win.”
Around Tucson, he did his fair share of that, advancing to an Elite Eight as a sophomore and to the Sweet 16 as a senior.
Hill was selected 23rd in the 2013 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers, joining a roster with five 30-year-olds. If he needed advice, he picked the brain of guard/forward Rasual Butler, who was born in 1979.
“I remember coming into the league with Indiana and being with a bunch of vets, and it was a couple years before we even got someone younger than me,” he said last week. “I look around this whole locker room, and I’m the old guy.”
• • •
Kobe Bryant’s death at 41 was a harrowing experience for Solomon Hill, who grew up in Los Angeles and longs to spend more time with his family, especially daughter Summer, who is not yet 4 years old.
Sometimes, you just get tired of the chase.
You get tired of answering questions, so many questions. Questions like, “Why aren’t you playing more?” or “Why aren’t you shooting more?” Every NBA player on the come up has to deal with friends and family who think they should be all-stars, even if they don’t see it in themselves.
And it wears on a dude, those expectations, those hopes.
At a certain point, you know what you want? You know all that matters?
“(Shoot), I just wanted a job,” Hill said. “It gets to the point where you have to be OK with that. The only way you’ll play good basketball is if you’re happy with yourself, and that’s on and off the court.
“You can be in a situation where you keep wanting more and more. If you’re upset with your role, they’ll happily find someone whose dreams and ambitions are to play the role you were given. And you know what they say, do what you can with what you have.”
After three injury-plagued seasons in New Orleans — and with No. 1 draft pick Zion Williamson and first-time all-star Brandon Ingram creating a logjam at forward — the Pelicans shipped Hill to Atlanta in a draft-day deal. Hill, No. 4 pick De’Andre Hunter, No. 57 pick Jordan Bone and a future second-round pick were traded to the Hawks for first-rounders Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, second-rounder Marcos Louzada Silva and a future No. 1.
In July, the Hawks dished Hill — along with Mason Plumlee, later waived — to the Grizzlies for Chandler Parsons.
Thursday, Memphis shipped Hill, Iguodala and Crowder to Miami in a deal that included Dion Waiters and James Johnson.
Gone are the days of self-judgment and self-pity. Hill said a week ago that he had finally shed his ego, saying, “I put a lot of unwarranted pressure on myself.” This is the most fun he’s having, Hill said, since his second season, when he started 78 games and played in all 82 for the Pacers.
A year away from his age-30 season, those days may be behind him.
So what.
“I just be myself, honestly,” Hill said. “I say, ‘I’m gonna check back on you guys in eight years, when JJ’s (Jaren Jackson Jr.’s) facial hair grows in, when Ja gets a little mustache. I said to Ja, ‘I’m gonna bring my son to the game to watch you play one day. My son won’t know, but I’ll tell him I played with Ja once. It just shows you the world keeps spinning.’”
The role of an NBA veteran a good gig, one that suits Hill.
But it’s nowhere near his most important job.
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Memphis Grizzlies’ Solomon Hill (44) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, in New York. The Grizzlies won the game 127-106. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, Hill played 18 minutes, hit one 3-pointer for his only basket, grabbed four rebounds and dished out one assist. His Grizzlies won 127-106 in a game punctuated by an all-out brawl in the final minutes that led to three suspensions.
Hill refused to join the fracas at the end. Other things are weighing on his mind these days.
“We’re used to our greats in the NBA living a long life,” he said. “Especially when you talk about the top-tier guys: the Kobes, the Jordans, the LeBrons. He was doing something routine, going to practice with his daughter. We can talk about the helicopter was missing this and that, but it was something routine. Who doesn’t drive their car sometimes without a brake light on?
“It became way more than basketball with him,” a contemplative Hill continued. “He touched fathers, anyone who ever wanted to pursue a dream, young kids. Kobe had a quote for anything you want to do in life. It was a sobering moment for sure.”
For a young father like Hill, with a daughter, Summer, who’s not even 4 years old, it only further reinforced his priorities.
“Being (an NBA father) is one of the toughest things I’ve done in my entire life,” Hill said. “You turn on the TV, and you don’t see what we go through on TV. That’s one thing about Kobe too. He put 20 years into the game. Think about how much time he spent away from his kids, perfecting his craft. Doing it for his family. That’s one of the hardest things I’m balancing now. I’m on the road, we have practice, there are certain things I have to do, but I also don’t want to be away from my family.”
That dedication is evident to Hill’s now-former teammates.
“He’s a great example of putting your kids and your family first,” Melton said. “No matter where he is, if he gets a call, he’s usually talking to his daughter. I know he finds time in a long NBA season that most of us think we don’t have. It doesn’t have to be long. Doesn’t have to be a 40-minute conversation. But he still finds time.” That’ll work for the time being. But Hill has more important things in mind.
“It’s one thing to be a vet and teach these young guys around here, but at some point, I’d rather teach my daughter,” he said. “I want to pick her up and be around her. That’s what matters most.
“I want to be an all-star dad and an all-star husband before I’m an all-star basketball player.”
