NBA notes: Grant Hill retires after 19 injury-plagued years

Seven-time All-Star Grant Hill retired from the NBA on Saturday after 19 seasons, ending a career interrupted by injuries that included an Olympic gold medal.

The Los Angeles Clippers announced the news, which came as no surprise since Hill had been mulling his future after the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. He had one season left on his contract.

"I've been hinting at it for the last few years and you get to a point where you just don't want to do it anymore. But I've enjoyed it, I've loved it," Hill said while appearing on TNT's pregame show before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Hill appeared in just 29 games last season, his first with the Clippers, but he lent a valuable veteran presence.

Gary Sacks, the team's vice president of basketball operations, called Hill "the embodiment of class, a true professional."

The 40-year-old forward averaged 16.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.2 steals during a career that included stints with the Clippers, Detroit, Orlando and Phoenix.

Blaylock's condition improved after crash

Former NBA All-Star guard Daron "Mookie" Blaylock was upgraded to serious condition at an Atlanta hospital Saturday, a day after his SUV crashed head-on into a van and killed a woman.

Atlanta Medical Center spokeswoman Nicole Gustin confirmed that the 46-year-old Blaylock's condition had improved. Police said he was initially placed on life support and was in critical condition.

Police said his SUV crossed the center line and slammed into an oncoming van. A passenger in the van, 43-year-old Monica Murphy, died Friday night, Jonesboro Police Chief Franklin Allen said. Her husband, 41-year-old Frankie Murphy, suffered a broken ankle.

Allen told WSB-TV in Atlanta that Blaylock has had "a history of seizures," and police were trying to find out if a seizure may have led to the accident.

In 13 NBA seasons with New Jersey, Atlanta and Golden State, he averaged 13.5 points and 6.2 assists.