CLEVELAND — Oh, what might have been.
Grant Hill still wonders. "It would have been nice."
John Gabriel stopped wondering a long time ago. "So I wouldn't make myself more nauseated."
And Tim Duncan? "Life," the San Antonio Spurs star says, "would have been a lot different."
In the Alamo City — and the Magic Kingdom.
Turn the clock back to the summer of 2000. Hill, billed as the next Michael Jordan at the time, and Duncan, a three-time All-Star with a championship ring won in 1999, were free agents courted by the Orlando Magic. Gabriel was the Magic's general manager, and he cleared millions of dollars from the payroll to pursue the two by renouncing the contracts of Bo Outlaw, Corey Maggette, Matt Harpring, Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups and Darrell Armstrong.
"Our thinking was, if we could get Grant Hill, we could get Tim, because they had the same agent (Lon Babby) and were friends," remembers Gabriel, now a scout with the Portland Trail Blazers.
On a visit to Orlando, Gabriel took Hill and Duncan to Disney World, where they were serenaded with a laser light message on the Epcot Center ball: "Grant Us Tim."
The Magic even enlisted Tiger Woods as a recruiter, arranging a meeting on the fifth hole of Woods' course with Julius Erving, a Magic consultant at the time, and then-coach Doc Rivers.
"Tiger said, 'If you guys come, I'll have to switch my allegiance from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Magic,' " Hill remembers.
Gabriel persuaded both to stay two more days. "Grant told us, 'Tim wants to hear more,' " Gabriel recalls. Rivers met with Duncan on his third and final day in Orlando, after which Gabriel said Duncan's agent told him, "You have a real shot." But then, says Gabriel, "the David Robinson stuff happened."
The Spurs center, hearing that Duncan was considering leaving, cut short a Hawaiian vacation, flew to San Antonio and persuaded his teammate to stay. Hill left the Detroit Pistons for Orlando, joined by free agent Tracy McGrady. They never won a playoff series together.
Two titles later, Duncan went into Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday shooting for a fourth ring.
"It was probably a lot closer decision than people even think," Duncan says. "David was here, and that was great. But even beyond that, the staff, the coaches, guys I was comfortable with, guys I enjoyed being around is probably what swayed it in the end."
Home cooking:
About a half-dozen Cleveland Cavaliers players have adopted an upscale restaurant in the Warehouse District in downtown Cleveland as their unofficial postgame eatery. "We have a good relationship going on," says Zdenko Zovkic, owner of XO Prime Steaks. Even LeBron James stops by. When he first met the Cavs star, however, Zovkic had to card him. James didn't turn 21 until last year. "We put him in his own little corner," Zovkic says.
He said it:
Asked if Robert Horry knocking him over on the sidelines in Game 2 brought back memories of his playing days at the Air Force Academy, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, "That's the best thing I could do as a player — fall down."
Styling:
Cavs forward Drew Gooden calls his haircut a duck tail. "Everybody is bringing back the mohawks and all the '80s fads are making their way back, so I said, what the heck, I'll grow a duck tail."
Around the league:
Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson, 61, had left hip replacement surgery, eight months after his right one was replaced. … The International Basketball Federation updated its world rankings, and the U.S. men and women are ranked No. 1. … Buzz Peterson, Michael Jordan's roommate at North Carolina, resigned as coach at Coastal Carolina to become the director of player personnel for the Charlotte Bobcats.
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