Former NBA star and iconic Duke Blue Devil Grant Hill is a co-owner of the National Basketball Association’s Atlanta Hawks, as well as a part-owner of Major League Soccer’s Orlando City SC and the National Women’s Soccer League’s Orlando Pride.
One of Hill’s most noteworthy choices following his draft selection was to forego using a sports agent to broker deals.
According to Grant Hill, he did not favor giving an agent a portion of his contracts in exchange for them speaking for him. Basketball agents can charge players as much as 4% to settle contracts, and they can make even more money if they work with brands to get deals.
Grant, who spent 19 NBA seasons playing for four different teams, recalled that his initial contract was an eight-year, $45 million agreement in 1994.
Lon Babby, a lawyer who previously served as general counsel for the Baltimore Orioles before joining the Phoenix Suns as president of basketball operations, handled the negotiations.
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Taking charge of his business early in his career allowed Hill to learn by “visiting ad agencies, sitting with the executive leadership team, and going over marketing campaigns to develop a strategy.” He “kept things simple” when it came to spending and learned about money by reading the business sections of newspapers.
Still, from his NBA playing days, the 1994 first-round draft pick of the Detroit Pistons is concerned about losing his money.
Hill claimed that after witnessing sportsmen struggle financially after their careers ended, he initially developed “paranoia about money and about losing money.”
Hill’s father, former running back Calvin Hill of the Dallas Cowboys, witnessed firsthand how some athletes dealt with money problems during his time in the NFL from 1969 to 1981.
The former NBA All-Star invested and developed over $200 million in projects throughout Florida and North Carolina through his marketing and management company, Hill Ventures.
He also invested in Centennial Yards, a $5 billion mixed-use development in Atlanta, through the commercial real estate investment firm CIM Group. He likened it to L.A. Live, an entertainment and residential complex outside of Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Grant Hill’s portfolio includes sports properties as well as he has a minority ownership interest in the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks as well as a $1 billion investment in the NBA Africa business.
In 2015, Hill and businessman Tony Ressler acquired the team (Hawks) for a price exceeding $800 million, which came with an equity stake and a vice chair position. According to Forbes, the Atlanta Hawks had a $3.325 billion net worth as of 2023.
“I didn’t change my lifestyle,” Hill said. “I didn’t go out on a shopping spree. I didn’t buy a car. I had a relationship with General Motors, and they gave me a couple of cars.”
Black art is an additional feature in Hill’s portfolio. Hill started collecting black art in the nineties. Hill revealed to CNBC that he is the owner of works by Hank Willis Thomas, Elizabeth Catlett, painter Norman Lewis, and Romare Bearden. Additionally, the value of black art has increased as a result of increased acceptance by the mainstream art community.
He continues to capitalize on his NBA brand, which adds to his $250 million overall net worth, as reported by Celebrity Net Worth.