George Hill · Biography

In 2008 George Hill was named Summit League Player of the Year, the first honor of a career that took him from his hometown college to the NBA Finals. George Jesse Hill Jr. was born on May 4, 1986, in Indianapolis, Indiana. A point guard who could also play off the ball, between 2008 and 2023 he played for the San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings, Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks, Oklahoma City Thunder and Philadelphia 76ers. He appeared in 915 regular-season games, 484 of them as a starter, averaging 10.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists, and in 144 playoff games at 11.1 points.

Broad Ripple and IUPUI

Hill attended Broad Ripple High School in Indianapolis, where as a senior he averaged a state-leading 36.2 points per game. He turned down Temple and Indiana to enroll at IUPUI so he could stay close to his ailing great-grandfather. He played four seasons for the Jaguars, from 2004 to 2008, averaging 17.0 points over 95 games. In 2007-08 he led them to 26 wins, a school record, and to the Summit League tournament final, and he was named first-team All-Summit League. He left as the program’s fifth all-time leading scorer with 1,619 points.

The draft and San Antonio (2008-2011)

The San Antonio Spurs selected him with the 26th pick of the 2008 NBA Draft and signed him on September 23, 2008. On April 1, 2010, he scored 30 points against Houston, a total he matched against the same opponent on March 28, 2011. In the 2010 playoffs San Antonio beat the Dallas Mavericks in six games in the first round, and Hill averaged 22.3 points in the series.

Back home in Indiana (2011-2016)

On draft night, June 23, 2011, the Spurs traded him to the Indiana Pacers for the draft rights to Kawhi Leonard, the 15th pick, along with the 42nd pick, Dāvis Bertāns, and the rights to Erazem Lorbek. Playing in his hometown, Hill re-signed on July 13, 2012, on a deal reported at five years and $40 million. Indiana beat Orlando and reached the 2012 Eastern Conference semifinals, where Miami eliminated them, and in 2013 took the Heat to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals. On February 7, 2014, he set his career high with 37 points, plus 9 rebounds and 8 assists, in an overtime win over Portland. On February 27, 2015, he posted his first triple-double against Cleveland: 15 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.

Utah, Sacramento and the 2018 Finals

A three-team trade involving Atlanta sent him to the Utah Jazz on July 7, 2016. He was Western Conference Player of the Week in November 2016 and played in the 2017 playoffs with Utah. On July 10, 2017, he signed with the Sacramento Kings for three years and a reported $57 million, but on February 8, 2018, another three-team trade moved him to the Cleveland Cavaliers. That June he played in the 2018 NBA Finals, which Golden State won in four games. In Game 1 he missed a free throw that could have won it in regulation, and Cleveland lost 124-114 in overtime.

Milwaukee and the 2020 boycott

On December 7, 2018, he joined the Milwaukee Bucks in a five-player, three-team trade with Cleveland and Washington. The Bucks reached the 2019 Eastern Conference finals and lost to Toronto in six games, after which he re-signed for three years and a reported $29 million. In 2019-20 he led the NBA in three-point percentage at.460. On August 26, 2020, inside the Orlando bubble and after the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Hill said he would not play Game 5 against the Magic, and the Bucks followed; he and Sterling Brown read the team’s statement. The boycott spread across the NBA, WNBA and MLB. Milwaukee won the rescheduled game 118-104 and then lost to Miami in five games in the second round.

Final stops (2020-2023)

A four-team trade sent him to the Oklahoma City Thunder on November 24, 2020. He fractured his right thumb on January 24, 2021, in his last game for the team, and on March 25 he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. Waived on August 3, 2021, he returned to Milwaukee three days later on a two-year, $8 million contract. On February 9, 2023, a four-team trade with Brooklyn and Phoenix brought him back to the Indiana Pacers, his hometown team.