Yardbarker: Pat Garrity

Jason Kidd and Grant Hill Retrospective: Two Sides of Health

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:43:34 -0500

1994.

Jason Kidd.

With the second pick in the 1994 NBA Draft, the Dallas Mavericks selected California guard Jason Kidd to run their offense that featured Jimmy Jackson and Jamal Mashburn. Kidd, who signed a six-year $60 million dollar rookie contract (those were the days before the NBA collective bargaining agreement regulated rookie salaries), didn't take long to impress as he helped the Mavs improve that year by 23 wins. By the end of his rookie year, J-Kidd averaged 11.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 7.7 assists per contest, and led the NBA in triple doubles with 4.

Grant Hill.

Drafting third overall were the Detroit Pistons who over the last few years had seen their team fall from the NBA's elite after winning back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990. With Duke senior forward Grant Henry Hill, one of the most decorated collegiate players of his generation, the Pistons not only had a new cornerstone (who signed to a tune of eight-years, $45 million) to build under the guidance of veteran guard Joe Dumars, but also what was to become the "face of the NBA" for the next few years. Hill's status was never more apparent than in that year's NBA All-Star Game wherein he became the first rookie (in any of the four major sports—Basketball, Baseball, Football, and Hockey) to be the events top vote getter. Hill finished with averages of 19.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.77 steals per game. As for triple-doubles, G.Hill didn't match Kidd's total but was able to post one against the Orlando Magic on April 7, 1995.

With their individual accomplishments (I can't really say "AND team accomplishments" since the Pistons only had an 8-game improvement will Hill that year), both Jason Kidd and Grant Hill were named NBA co-rookie of the year—only the second duo (until Chicago's Elton Brand and Houston's Steve "Franchise" Francis turned the trick in 99'-00') to capture the award after the Celtics' Dave Cowens and Blazers' Geoff Petrie did it 24 years earlier.

In their own right, both Jason Kidd and Grant Hill have had successful and highly lucrative careers. Kidd is third all-time in triple-doubles (netting 100 to date), USA Basketball's 2007 Male Athlete of the Year (going 44-0 lifetime when representing his country), and has reached the NBA Finals twice in 2001 and 2002. On the other hand, Hill had been named to numerous NBA All-Star teams (even making the squad during the 2001 season in which he only participated in four regular season games), is one of only three players (the others being Elgin Baylor and the late Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain) to lead his team in scoring, rebounds, and assists on at least three occasions, and is generally a nice guy (having won the NBA's Sportsmanship Award (2004, 2008) and the Magic Johnson Award (2006)).

But in my eyes, arguably the defining point in their respective careers is the element of injury from which no player is immune.

The Good.

In March of 2000, the Phoenix Suns' Jason Kidd broke a bone in his left ankle with 2/10th of a second left in the first half of their game against the Sacramento Kings. Surgery ensued, and five weeks later, Kidd was back on the court for the Suns' playoff run. Four years later, Kidd had microfracture surgery on his left knee in July 1st and returned five months later without any ill effects—which says a lot because a number of players have either retired (e.g., Terrell Brandon, Allan Houston, Kerry Kittles, Karl Malone, Jamal Mashburn, Bryon Russell, guard Alvin Williams, and Chris Webber), are unemployed (e.g., Pat Garrity and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway), not really the same anymore (e.g., Matt Harping, Kenyon Martin (procedure on both knees in successive years), Eduardo Najera), or play like they never got hurt in the first place (e.g. the aforementioned Jason Kidd, Zach Randolph, Amare Stoudemire and the retired John Stockton). (The jury is still out on Portland Trailblazer rookie Greg Oden and $111 million dollar man Gilbert "Hibachi" Arenas, so we will have to wait and see.)

The Bad.

Grant Hill. Once the poster boy for endurance (averaging 38.93 minutes a game during his first six years in the NBA), Hill's health deteriorated after severely injuring his ankle during the 2000 playoffs while playing for the Detroit Pistons. The following year, the Orlando Magic's new free agent acquisition had season-ending surgery to repair a broken medial malleolus (inside bone of left ankle) on Jan. 3 2001. A similar season-ending procedure was done 11 months later (Dec. 19, 2001) and the following season (2002-2003), Hill also missed a majority it before having surgery again on his bothersome left ankle which involved re-fracturing and re-aligning the ankle by re-shaping the heal on March 18, 2003.

Wikipedia.com shares that five days after the said procedure, "the unexpected happened: Hill developed a 104.5 °F (40.3 °C) fever and convulsions. He was immediately rushed to a hospital. Doctors removed the splint around his ankle and discovered that Hill had developed a staph infection, from which he nearly died. He was hospitalized for a week and had to take intravenous antibiotics for six months."

Grant Hill then missed the entire 2003-2004 in order to rehabilitate his left ankle. Two years later, Hill's ankle was fine but he still missed 61 games due to a sports hernia.

And the comparisons don't stop there.

Overall, I am happy that both players are currently healthy and with them being in the twilight of their careers, they may still give us a special moment.

Don't blink.

Because it may just happen.

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Daily Links 9/13

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 11:19:20 -0500

Herald Magic's Pat Garrity retires from the NBA ( http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/other_nba/view.bg?articleid=1118617 format=text ) Globe Celtics trophy heads to Maine ( http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2008/09/12/celtics_trophy_heads_to_maine/ ) Celtics.com Behind the scenes of the Celtics' ring sizing ( http://www.nba.com/celtics/playoffs2008/playoffs-celticsvisionhd.html ) CelticsBlog On a possible Alien return ( http://www.celticsblog.com/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=3902 Itemid=189 ) Celtics Stuff Live Sunday 8-10 with Steve Bulpett ( http://www.celticsblog.com/index.php?option=com_content task=view id=3909 Itemid=189 ) LOY's Place Get to know Kendrick Perkins ( http://celticsgreen.blogspot.com/2008/09/it-is-no-secret-that-i-really-love-this.html ) Rumors and free agent updates - Freak accident edition ( http://celticsgreen.blogspot.com/2008/09/rumors-and-free-agent-updates-freak.html ) ESPN Cavaliers re-sign Delonte West to multiyear contract ( http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3584268 ) Blazer center LaFrentz to have shoulder surgery ( http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=3584641 type=story ) Turmoil to follow ( http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-34-63/Turmoil-to-Follow.html ) Alford is older, wiser and no longer thinking about IU ( http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy id=3580664 ) Authority...

Rumors and Free Agent Updates - Freak Accident Edition

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 09:41:35 -0500

Much speculation has been going around about Monta Ellis' injury that apparently happened outdoors and not on a basketball court. Here's one for the freak accident file. The Timberwolves new center, Jason Collins,injured a triceps tendon in his elbow when his golf cart skidded on wet ground and tipped over. You can't make stuff like that up. The Delonte West Saga is finally over in Cleveland. The restricted free agent has agreed to a 3 year contract that will play him around $12 million. The third year is at the option of the team. Details are coming out that they team wanted to limit him to 2 guaranteed years because like many other teams, they are trying to keep as much money as possible free for the 2010 free agent bonanza. It is being reported that only $500,000 is guaranteed for the 2010-11 season if they decide to let him go. I have been watching Delonte, Ryan Gomes and Big Al because I really like those 3 players and was hoping that maybe the Celtics could get them back but with all three signing multi-year contracts with their teams, that won't happen for awhile anyway. Chris Quinn is another restricted free agent who finally came to terms with his team. The Heat have re-signed guard Chris who was one of the few bright spots last season for the team, averaging 14.4 points and 5.9 assists in their final 17 games. Quinn will have a chance to compete for the starting PG job with the team against Marcus Banks and Mario Chalmers. He should have a good shot at it because Banks has been a disappointment with every team who have seen his potential and taken a chance on him and Chalmers is a rookie who is already off to a rocky start in the league. Magic forward Pat Garrity has decided to hang up his sneakers and retire. Garrity had been with the Magic longer than any current player on the roster. Garrity is 32, the same age as the Celtics star players, but his playing time has dwindled in recent years and even though there are teams with some interest in him, is ready to get on with his life beyond basketball. On the other hand, the Magic signed much traveled veteran PG Mike Wilks who will be insurance behind Jameer Nelson and Anthony Johnson. Former Celtic Raef LaFrentz will have shoulder surgery later this month. Gosh, I thought he had retired but I guess he is still hanging in there. I think he has spent more time on the injured list in his career than he has playing. It was a masterful stroke for Danny to trade Raef, whose bloated contract is still going for Theo Ratliff, whose expiring contract was instrumental in bringing KG to Boston. Raef is finally in the last year of his contract so may finally be useful as an expiring contract. The Blazers may need it, too, if Darius Miles is able to play 10 games this season and put them back on the hook for the $18 million the team still owes him. Another former Celtic with a bloated contract is finally at the expiring contract stage of his career and that is Wally Szczerbiak. Wally, one of the best pure shooters in his prime, has spent more time on the injured list than playing between his fragile ankles and bone on bone knees. He is being rumored as a prime candidate to be traded by the Cavs this season because his 13 million expiring contract finally will make him attractive to another team. Larry Bird is still trying to dump Jamaal Tinsley on some unsuspecting team. Pacers fans don't need to worry that they will be stuck with him because Bird has told the Pacer's NBA blog that Tinsley will not be with the team this season. So, either he has a trade brewing that he is certain he can pull off or he will finally relent and buy him out but he is pretty adamant that Tinsley will be gone before the season starts. One deal that has been rumored has the Heat offering Marcus Banks for Tinsley. He is also firm on the fact that they will keep Granger for the future, even though they haven't extended his contract yet. The Pacers wisely took Granger over Gerald Green in the draft allowing the Celtics to grab Green, who still hasn't gotten his potential anywhere near matching his production. Shaun Livingston is still looking for a team willing to take a chance on signing him. He worked out for the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves in the past week. The Miami Heat are also very interested in signing the 6'7" point guard who is fighting his way back from a devastating injury. There have also been rumors that Danny Ainge is interested in Livingston, but I take those rather skeptically at this point with the admission from Ainge that he plans to bring Sam Cassell back. The Celtics will have plenty of point guards. He might consider a non guaranteed training camp contract like he gave Miles, but word is that Livingston is looking for a guaranteed contract and with 3 other teams interested, he will probably get it. The Blazers are the frontrunners at this point but the Wolves are also sold on him after the workout so it will depend on who is willing to give the most. The Lakers have signed yet another player, bringing their total number of players to 20. That gives them 5 more than the league maximum going into camp. This time, they signed C.J. Giles, a forward out of Oregon State. This comes one day after signing Brandon Heath. Of all the players the Lakers have signed this summer — Dwayne Mitchell, Josh Powell, Sun Yue, Joe Crawford, Heath and Giles, only Powell's and Sun's contracts are guaranteed. Sun Yue will wear #9 with the Lakers should he be lucky enough to make the final cut. I wonder if that is in honor of Rajon Rondo who outplayed all the Lakers' point guards in the finals last year.

Magic’s Garrity Calls It A Career

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:40:14 -0500

The Orlando Magic announced on their website Thursday that veteran forward Pat Garrity has decided to retire. Garrity who became a free agent at the coclusion of last season played ten years in the Association. He spent his first campaign with the Phoenix Suns, the remaining nine with the Magic. Garriity was best known for [...]

Your Dream Is Dead, Go Learn Golf

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:13:52 -0500

why are these 6 guys in the league still? who else should be included?

'06-'07 Previews: Orlando Magic

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 18:32:36 -0500

This is part of my series of articles previewing all 30 NBA teams and the upcoming season. The Magic finished last season with a flurry and, with maybe a few more games, could have made a serious run into the postseason. Now they're not only expected to be a playoff team, but they are touted by some as the team most likely to breakthrough and have a surprising season. They've got some pieces in place. Jameer Nelson is developing into a good leader, Dwight Howard is the real deal... and don't look now, but Grant Hill is ready to play this season. They've got a team able to battle amongst the middle of the pack in the East. They need another piece or two, maybe a second bonafide scorer, before they can continue to elevate their status as a team.