Wednesday, October 10, 2001
XU's Hill puts family before basketball
Regrets playing for 76ers in Finals while dad was sick
By Michael Perry
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CLEVELAND — If Tyrone Hill had to do it over again, he would have returned to Cincinnati during the NBA playoffs last spring to be at his father's side in the hospital.
Eddie Hill was in intensive care. He had suffered two strokes and complications from diabetes. Tyrone wasn't sure his father would make it.
But he remained with Philadelphia and played for the 76ers through the NBA Finals. Hill admittedly played poorly because his mind was elsewhere. That haunted him throughout the offseason, but not as much as his decision to put basketball ahead of his family. Fortunately, his father recovered.
“I should've just jumped on the plane,” the Withrow High School and Xavier graduate said. “I kick myself. There's no way I would ever do that again for any team. ... You've only got one mom and dad. I'm very upset. I should've been with my dad.”
Hill is lying on his stomach in the Cleveland Cavaliers' training room, taking treatment for his back. He hurt it two months ago during an offseason workout.
The 12-year veteran missed his first NBA training camp and is not expected to play Saturday night when Cleveland faces the New Jersey Nets in an exhibition game at XU's Cintas Center.
The 76ers traded Hill to the Cavaliers, for whom he played from 1993-97, in August.
“I gave them everything I had,” Hill said. “I trusted coach (Larry) Brown. I looked to him like a father figure. Everything he preached ... those are the same things my father taught us: Never ask anyone for anything.
“I was surprised, actually (by the trade). I loved Philly. I loved Coach Brown. I was looking to finish my career there.”
Hill, 33, believes he was traded because of his playoff performance. He averaged 7.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in 23 postseason games, down from his season averages of 9.6 and 9.0. In the Finals against the Lakers, he shot .394 from the field and averaged 6.6 rebounds and 6.6 points.
He says he could have reached out more to Brown to tell him what was going on before it became public, but Hill prefers not to talk about personal matters.
Still, he wonders how much the 76ers cared about him. Though Bill Cosby — whom Hill had met several times — called his parents' home in Cincinnati to check on his father's condition, no Philadelphia team official did.
“I don't think they stuck by me,” Hill said of the team. “After all that, my family was there. That just shows you who your first priority should be, and I didn't do that.”
He has two years remaining on his contract and would like to add two more, then probably call it a career. He is financially secure. In July, he moved his parents, sister and six nieces and nephews to the Atlanta area, where he bought them a seven-bedroom home. Hill also lives in Atlanta.
Eddie, 66, is doing better, Hill said. But “now my mom is having heart problems,” Hill said. He had been trying to get his parents to move to Atlanta for a while, but they resisted. After the civil unrest in Cincinnati in April, Eunice, 64, told her son she was ready to go.
“I have my best years when I know they're stable,” Hill said. “... The year before last, my dad was doing well, and I had one of my best seasons (12 ppg, 9.2 rpg).”
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XU's Hill puts family before basketball
