Loyalty in Sports???

This one goes out to the fans, and specially the writers, that follow the Orlando Magic. Recently, the Magic fans have found their panties bunched because of the departure of Grant Hill. I was lucky enough to stumble across Mike Bianchi’s opinion in the Orlando Sentinel.

"I thought Grant Hill was different. I thought he would do the classy thing. The noble thing. The right thing. Silly me. Somehow, I thought Grant was above being a mercenary. I thought he would make the difficult and decent choice, not the easy selfish one."

The fans of Orlando feel that Hill owes them something. WHAT does Hill owe Orlando or the Magic? Everyone likes to say that the Magic stuck by Hill during his worst times.

“After the Magic stuck by him for all these years, didn't you think he'd at least stick by them for one more season? The Magic paid him $93 million for seven years of misery and medical maladies and never once publicly complained.”

Um guys? Maybe that’s because Orlando was contractually bound to pay him. It’s highly unlikely that Orlando would have held on to the injury plagued Hill had they been able to dump his contract entirely. Was Hill supposed to give back some of his salary since he couldn't play? Would YOU do that? I also would like to know what the Magic could complain about. It’s not like Hill was riding his motorcycle or wrestling professionally. He had legitimate injuries which involved staph infections and fracturing of ankles to name a few.

But let’s just assume Hill did stay. Is he the missing piece to the NBA Championship puzzle the Magic are trying to put together? It’s disgustingly sad if the people of Orlando think that a 34, coming up on 35 year old player is their missing piece. I can buy the argument if Hill was bolting at the age of 26, but come on guys. The guy just wants a chance to win something before he leaves. He passed up contracts in the five to six million dollar range to play for a winning team. In no way am I saying Hill wasn't one of the worst free agent signings in the history of the NBA. I am saying he doesn't owe Orlando anything but a thank you. Besides, Orlando should fell lucky that they didn’t have to deal with the headaches of a Ron Artest or Zach Randolph for those 7 years.

For more of this humor check out the article
On his way out of town, Hill takes last bastion of loyalty