Game (ePub)

The full, frank story of a remarkable life journey - to the pinnacle of success as a basketball player, icon, and entrepreneur, to the depths of personal trauma, and back to a place of flourishing and peace, made possible above all by a family's love

Grant Hill always had game. He'd learned from his parents never to put a ceiling on his ambitions. His choice of college was a subject of national interest, and his arrival at Duke cemented the program's arrival at the top. In his freshman year, he helped lead the team to its first NCAA championship, the first of two back to back, and three championship appearances in four years. His Duke career produced some of the most iconic moments in college basketball history, and Coach K proved to be a lifelong mentor and friend.

Then things got a little crazy. Yes, he was immediately one of the NBA's best players, an All-Star Game starter in his first season and the new face of the Detroit Pistons franchise. But this was also the world that Michael Jordan had made, and Hill was the first person with the potential to give Jordan a run for his money, not just as a player but as a brand. And he said yes: to Sprite, to General Motors, to McDonalds; his $45 million rookie contract was almost the least of it. But, it was all on his own terms: he didn't use an agent, he took every meeting himself, and he turned down Nike for Fila. Soon Method Man and Tupac Shakur were wearing his shoes, and a new era was born.

Hill writes candidly about all of it, including navigating all the cross-currents, and dealing with the transactional impermanence of life in the league, and the isolation, as his fame grew. His parents and friends helped ground him, but above all, he had the fortune to meet a gifted musician from Canada named Tamia. The love he found with her gave his life a new center, especially with the arrival of their two beautiful daughters. That love would be his rock through a stretch of stormy years, as a brutal and mysterious injury that sidelined him coincided with his wife's own serious health struggles.

In Game, Hill relates his entire path, including his family's ordeals, with openness and insight. Ultimately, he emerged from his dark tunnel into the sunlight of a life of abundance, including Hall of Fame induction, co-ownership of the Atlanta Hawks, the directorship of the USA men's national team, even - full circle - a yearly gig calling the Final Four. Grant Hill's father Calvin used to tell him that there were always a lot of reasons, but never any excuses. Game is a distillation of a lifetime's effort to understand the reasons, the good and the bad. At his hardest moments, Hill sought out wisdom from others, stories of inspiration and overcoming obstacles. Now, with Game, he has returned the favor.