Grant Hill is a name that doesn’t get talked about enough when it comes to NBA superstars of old. Before injuries slowed him down, Hill was a perennial All-Star and an All-NBA level talent, looking primed to be one of the players that would take the mantle on from Jordan after the 90s were over.
Hill entered the league in 1994 and played a season without MJ around before the GOAT returned and reminded everyone exactly why he is considered the greatest to ever play the game. While Hill and Jordan had some great battles of their own, the rivalry between them ran deep, starting from where both went to college.
MJ was a North Carolina Tar Heel in his college days, while Hill spent 4 seasons at Duke. The intense rivalry between two of college basketball’s best programs is well known, so there is a certain amount of trash talk that occurs when alumni from those schools meet.
It was no different between Jordan and Hill if Hill is to be believed. MJ made an appearance for the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team celebration in 2022, and while Hill himself didn’t make the team, he was there in his capacity as a broadcaster. And he didn’t miss his chance, telling Rich Eisen on his show how he talked trash to Mike.
(starts at 16:30 minutes):
“I saw [Michael Jordan] in Cleveland at the NBA 75 ceremony,” Hill said on The Rich Eisen Show. “So I was talking all types of trash. I was in his face, and I was like, ‘Oh man,’ like, you know? I’m giving it to him, and he’s like, ‘Man, you weren’t talking trash when we were good.’ And I would say, ‘Yes, I was. I was talking trash because when you guys were good, we were good, too.’ And, so, we were going back and forth in the hallway.”
It takes a lot of confidence for someone to talk trash to MJ, especially a player that was playing in the NBA during the 90s. However, Hill knows how good he was and he’s had enough interactions with Jordan to have this type of friendly banter with the GOAT. While his Bulls career is almost impossible to question, it’s always possible for someone to rile MJ up about how UNC is doing if they lose a game or 2.
