Jeff Van Gundy crashed his car thinking about Grant Hill
Jeff Van Gundy, Doug Collins, and Grant Hill
© RVR Photos - USA TODAY Sports
Unfortunately, there are several players that compete for the no.1 spot on the "what if he never got injured?" Derrick Rose immediately comes to mind. Real students of the game remember that Shaun Livingston was a unicorn in his day. A few older generation guys like Bill Walton, Dominique Wilkins, and Ralph Sampson are also on that list.
But the Big Three of this infamous category have to be three guys who legitimately had the talent to take over the league post-MJ (the Bulls MJ, to be clear.) Penny Hardaway, Tracy McGrady, and probably my no.1 guy on this list - Grant Hill. Jeff Van Gundy has a story that perfectly encapsulates how dangerous Hill was.
Honey, I crashed the car
The ultimate franchise cornerstone is the "pick your poison" guy. The kind of guy who makes the opponent focus solely on them. All Ime Udoka is thinking is how to limit Giannis Antetokounmpo - everything else is a consequence of developing a strategy to slow him down. Mike Budenholzer, on the other side of the court, is doing the same about Jayson Tatum. Kevin Durant, LeBron James...you know the list.
And all these coaches know they won't be able to stop the guy but only slow him down, and hopefully, channel him into the least deadly skill he has. Before his injuries, Grant Hill was that guy.
“People now hear him as a broadcaster, part-owner, and head of USA Basketball. So many of your fans would have no realization he was so dominant early in his career, before injury. Grant Hill, when I was coaching the Knicks, was as big of a problem as anybody could be to you,” Jeff Van Gundy told Zach Lowe on The Lowe Post.
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JVG is all about basketball, but he couldn't crack the Grant Hill code, and we definitely know he tried. There was nothing else on his mind.
“We had just played them and he had diced us up really good. I was coming home from shootaround, and I had a driveway like a lot of people do in New York, where you go uphill and turn into your garage. Unfortunately, I forgot to hit the garage door opener, so Grant Hill caused me to pay a lot to get us a new garage door.”
Jeff Van Gundy, The Lowe Post
Despite the fact it created a noticeable bump in Van Gundy's budget and probably didn't make his wife too happy, he did find a silver lining to the story - the Knicks won that night.
Honey, I crashed the car...again
For transparency purposes, I feel the only honest thing is to mention Grant Hill isn't the only reason Van Gundy crashed his car into the garage doors. By his admission, Jeff isn't the best driver. Or he hates garage doors.
“Mike Breen was in Houston to do a game. He had brought his wife, and we were going to get something to eat. I'm chit-chatting as I'm backing out. I forgot that the door was open, and for some reason, I hit the button, and it was closing, and I backed into it. My success rate of going out of garages, and going into them is equal. It's sh**ty.”
Jeff Van Gundy, The Lowe Post
So we learned two things. If you're in a car with Jeff Van Gundy, offer to drive the vehicle. And more importantly, Grant Hill was a badass.
