This interview was conducted Jan. 19th 2007 with a NBA hopeful by the name of Alex Hill. The location is sunny Miami at the Bayside Marketplace. Alex specifically asked to meet at this location, so I honored his request. Alex Hill is 6’6, 22, 215lb, lives in Orlando, and plays ABA with the Orlando Aces. He is their teams star and leading scorer averaging 24 points per game, but believes the ABA is a stepping-stone to the ultimate fulfillment of his NBA dream.
How old are you Alex?: I am 22 years old sir
Why did you choose this specific location for this interview?: Well, due to my basketball schedule playing teams from Miami and Palm Beach, It seems as though I am always in the Miami area. So on my off time I like to come out here and listen to live bands, look at the different people that walk through here, and reflect on my life. Also, with Bayside being next door to the Miami Heat’s Arena it feels natural for me to think about my future here.
So you like being near the arena even if your not playing inside of it?: I am not playing in it, ......Yet!!!
Everyone who is currently or was in the NBA had this same dream and they pursued it, so why cant I? Also, my mom always taught us to speak things into existence, so If I said not yet that means I will eventually.
How long have you been playing basketball Alex?: I have been playing basketball all my life pretty much.
What is your earliest basketball memory?: Well my dad’s side of the family has deep basketball roots. My dad played high school ball and his pictures and trophies always surrounded me. My dad’s sister is Brenda Hill the Assistant coach of the Lady Bulldogs at the University of Georgia, and my first cousin is her daughter Tasha Humphrey. So I really didn’t have a choice since it is in my blood, but my earliest memory is going back to the high school my dad played in and getting trampled. He and his old teammates were playing a pick-up game when I wondered on the floor in the middle of it (starts laughing).
Alex, I am sure we can sit and reminisce on your basketball background all day in this beautiful weather, but lets get down to it. What makes Alex a good player?: Shoot, my drive man. My personality has a lot to do with my game on the court. I think it is the mystery behind me that’s intimidating. You never really know what I can do or what I am going to do, but deep down you know I am going to do something and it will be nice.
So does that make you a NBA ready player?: That alone, NO, but those are part of the ingredients of a great NBA star. Look at Jordan, he didn’t really talk much but his mystique spoke louder than any other NBA player, ever! Even if the bulls were loosing by 20 points the other team knew as long as he was in the game the momentum of the game could easily change. I am and have always been that type of player. Once you put me in the game I am instant offence and I am going to score. Many players’ lack the ability to score at will and score only off opportunity.
You sound pretty confident in your game: Look, I am an explosive, no nonsense, take no prisoners type of player and my stats back that up. One day I might shoot 3’s all day and the next I might beast the rim out. One day I may play like a forward and the next like a point guard.
What do you think are your strengths are?: My leaping ability, my penetration to the hole, my mid range jump shot, and m y marketability. The NBA is a business!
My concern is if you are as good of a player as you and from what I‘ve heard everyone says you are, then why are you not already in the league?: Honestly, to me I think my story is the ultimate basketball hustler’s story. I did not play high school ball and played one semester of college basketball, so my lack of exposure is why I am not in the league already.
Have you thought about playing overseas?: Yes I have, I actually think of it all the time. I have already set my sights and my goal to the NBA and although there is nothing wrong with playing overseas, I want to see my goal out to the end.
Why didn’t you play high school and only one semester of college?: My academics, in high school I put basketball above my schoolwork. I did not apply myself in class, because I was always looking out the window at the basketball court. Anytime anyone said Alex Hill the name was automatically associated with basketball, because that is all I knew and was all I was known for.
So why did you play just one semester in college?: Well, my high school senior year I transferred to a private school and pushed my GPA to a 3.5. I went to college out of state in Tifton, GA at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College on an athletic scholarship. Once again I got side tracked by basketball. I was finally on a team, I was the star player, and I was away from home and got caught up. I played all the way until winter break and the coach told me I lost my scholarship. I could not afford the out of state’s tuition, so I packed up and moved home.
That had to hurt?: Yea it did, but I came home a focused on school only and mentally matured. When I look back on all the disappointments in my life whether it was self-inflicted or by circumstance, I see how strong of a person it actually made me. I feel like I had to go through that in order for me to be in the position I am in now. I also express to my younger basketball playing cousins to focus on school. If I had my grades together I would already be in the league, so to avoid what I am going through learn to love basketball and school.
And is that the same drive you mentioned earlier when I asked you what makes you good?: Exactly sir, that is what drives me to be the best and strive for the best. I feel like I have paid my dues. I’ve been up, down, close, and miles away. I have never given up and I feel I should be rewarded. When I’m looking into the eyes of my ABA competition I am always saying to myself this guy already had his chance at the NBA. Most of these guys have played D1, overseas, and some even played in the NBA. For whatever reason they are here playing at the same level as me. So them with all their divisional basketball accolades, me with none except word of mouth and those who seen my game, and we are playing on the same court at the same level. Man, I deserve my chance and I will prayerfully get that chance during the NBA Pre-Draft camp. After I declare for the draft and the draft committee invites me (speaking it into existence again), I will go there and play harder than I have ever played in my life. What all the high school and college players worked four years to prove, I will have to prove in one week. All I have to say is don't get caught up in the pre-NBA fame and secure in your draft stock, because I am coming to claim my position.
Alex, I must admit I love you passion. You talk with the wisdom of a person who has played this game for a long time: Thank you sir
What will you contribute to the NBA?: A lot of players get in the league and get fat. I don’t mean physically, but mentally and lifestyle wise. They get in and get caught up in the fame, money, women, and material things that taste good, but are not good for a NBA players development. By fat, I mean get full of the bad things and loose their hunger for the game. It slows them down and it affects the way they play. I will come in the game and give the fans what they paid in money to see, while also giving my family and myself what we paid in time, sweat, tears, and prayers to see.
This is my last question to you Alex and maybe the most important. Who is Alex Hill and what will his NBA legacy be? Think a minute before you answer that: Okay............
Who is Alex? Alex is the son of two incredible, loving, and supportive parents. Alex is humble, approachable, and spiritually grounded. Alex and his game will be respected and never under estimated. Alex is dedicated to his team in times of victory and defeat. Alex is leader, Alex is a fighter, Alex is winner, and a dribbling testimony that God prevails when other say “you will fail”. It will appear that Alex Hill came out of nowhere starting with the NBA draft camp, and the very circumstance that kept me from previous exposure will be the same thing that will make me a house hold name.
And your legacy?: I want people to say when my NBA career ends that I had the greatest court presence ever. Even if I don’t score the whole night and make one amazing pass, just my presence on the floor in making that pass would have changed the whole momentum of the game. The NBA greats retire from the game still hungry; therefore, it’s not rare to see a player come out of retirement eager to eat again. Like Kobe, I studied the greats and therefore that only makes me a greater player.
Alex’s story is the foundation of what we call The American Dream. A kid from nowhere with only talent and a dream (in his own personal “Pursuit of Happyness” like the Will Smith Movie) rises to become a legend in his own right. Before Alex and I departed he left me with this statement.
I feel and believe 2007 is my year, so next time you interview me we will be talking from the inside of the arena looking out instead of the outside looking in.
(End)
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