When the 2002-03 NBA season opens Tuesday night, there will be a rare sighting: Grant Hill in an Orlando Magic uniform.
Hill is expected to be in the starting lineup alongside Tracy McGrady when the Magic host Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers.
There are just two other games Tuesday. In Los Angeles, the three-time defending champion Lakers receive their rings before taking on the San Antonio Spurs without the injured Shaquille O'Neal and the suspended Rick Fox.
In Sacramento, the Kings will be without the injured Mike Bibby and the suspended Doug Christie when they entertain the woeful Cleveland Cavaliers, who will be without Coach John Lucas.
Hill suffered a broken ankle at the end of the 1999-2000 season, when he was with the Detroit Pistons. He tried to play through the injury, then signed as a free agent with the Magic.
The Magic also signed McGrady and figured they had a 1-2 punch of versatility that would make them perennial contenders in the Eastern Conference. While McGrady developed into a superstar, Hill's ankle did not heal properly after surgery.
Over the last two seasons, Hill has played in just 18 games for the Magic, who despite McGrady's greatness have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs each of the last two years.
However, Hill finally has been given a clean bill of health.
With a healthy Hill and McGrady, the Magic believe they can make a run at the defending conference champion New Jersey Nets. So do the 76ers, who traded defense for offense to help Iverson, a three-time scoring champion.
Philadelphia sent defensive giant Dikembe Mutombo to New Jersey for forward Keith Van Horn and center Todd MacCulloch. Both are better offensive players than Mutombo, but neither play the same kind of intimidating defense.
Last season, Iverson led the NBA in scoring at 31.4 points per game. But he was bothered by hounding zone defenses and shot less than 40 percent for the first time in his career as the Sixers also were bounced in the first round.
For the third straight year, Commissioner David Stern will be at the Staples Center in Los Angeles to present the Lakers with their championship rings. However, the Lakers will be missing a few folks.
The 7-2, 350-pound O'Neal is on the injured list and will miss at least the first five games as he recovers from offseason toe surgery. Fox was suspended six games without pay by the NBA on Monday for his ugly fight with Christie in Friday's exhibition game between the Lakers and Kings.
The Lakers' offensive load likely will fall to superstar guard Kobe Bryant. The Spurs are led by forward Tim Duncan, the NBA MVP last season.
The Cavaliers-Kings matchup pits perhaps the NBA's worst team against perhaps the best. Sacramento nearly eliminated Los Angeles in last season's conference finals, blowing a 3-2 series lead and losing Game Seven at home in overtime.
