Grant Hill retires after 19 seasons

Los Angeles, CA – Longtime NBA forward Grant Hill announced his retirement Saturday after a 19-year career in which he was named an All- Star seven times.

Hill, who also shared the league's Rookie of the Year Award with Jason Kidd for the 1994-95 season, averaged double-figure points in every season but this past one, when the 40-year-old contributed 3.2 points per game over 29 contests with the Los Angeles Clippers.

The former Duke great broke into the league with Detroit as the third overall selection in the 1994 draft and averaged 21.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists over six stellar seasons with the Pistons. Hill then joined the Orlando Magic in a sign-and-trade prior to the 2000-01 campaign, but played in only four games that season due to a chronic ankle injury that affected him for a significant portion of his career.

During his seven seasons with the Magic, Hill participated in more than 29 games just twice over that span and was forced to sit out the entire 2003-04 schedule after undergoing major ankle surgery.

Hill did enjoy better health after signing with the Phoenix Suns in 2007, playing in a total of 313 games while averaging 12.4 points during a four-year stretch. He spent five seasons total with the Suns before joining the Clippers as a free agent, but missed the first three months of 2012-13 after suffering a bone bruise in his right knee during the preseason.

For his career, Hill averaged 16.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists over a combined 1,026 games. He was named to the All-NBA team five times and won the league's Sportsmanship Award on three occasions, the most of any player since the honor was instituted in 1995.

"The entire Clippers organization wants to congratulate Grant on an incredible career," Clippers vice president of basketball operations Gary Sacks said. "For 19 years, Grant has always been the embodiment of class, a true professional and not only one of the best players - but one of the finest individuals I have been around. We were fortunate to have Grant with us last season, and we wish him all the best in his next endeavor."

Hill also won a pair of NCAA national championships while at Duke and was part of the United States' gold medal-winning squad at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.