A Los Angeles native and University of Arizona product, forward Solomon Hill was one of the most experienced players to join New Orleans roster this offseason, even though he's only 25 years old. The 6-foot-7, 225-pounder was the first player to agree to terms on a contract with the Pelicans, doing so on the first day of free agency. Hill sat down with Pelicans.com to discuss his background and some of his interests away from the court:
Best moments as an athlete: “Competing in the NCAA Tournament and the NBA playoffs. It's what you play for. In college, you play to get to March Madness, and at Arizona we were able to go to the Elite Eight. In the NBA, going to the playoffs and not just being on a team that went there, but having a big role on the team (in 2016) was huge for me.”
How he chose his current uniform number of 44: “It started in high school. Our varsity coach gave us a set of numbers to choose from, and I just picked 44. Other than my first year in the NBA, I've always been 44. It kind of just worked. Coming here, Dante (Cunningham) had 44, but his original favorite number was 33, so he switched to that and I took over 44. I was stressing about my number, thinking I had to get a new one, but my girlfriend did some research and found out that Dante wore 33 in college. Then I saw Ryan Anderson was leaving, so I texted Dante and told him 33 was available if he wanted it. He just texted back, 'YES!' in all caps. So it was great that we were both able to get the numbers we wanted.”
One thing fans might be surprised to know about him: “I like to watch anime. I was with Tim Frazier and he said, 'You're really in here watching cartoons?' I was like, 'Yeah!' Other than that, maybe that I like to watch Grey's Anatomy because of my girlfriend.”
Favorite thing about New Orleans: “The environment in the area. I've gone kayaking about 40 minutes north of the city, then the next day we went airboating, about 40 minutes south of New Orleans. Just the calmness of the water, being out on the lakes and swamps – seeing environments that are mostly untouched by humans, where you might see alligators or other animals – is pretty cool. Being from Los Angeles, where it gets kind of hectic a lot, I really enjoy that, calm environments.”
Favorite athletes as a kid: “A combination of Gilbert Arenas and Vince Carter. Vince Carter is the best dunker ever, up there with Michael Jordan. He did things in the game that guys can't do in the backyard, with nobody on the court. Gilbert Arenas was an undersized two-guard in the mold of Allen Iverson. He also went to Arizona like I did. It was cool to see how much of a scorer and game-changer he was.”
What he'd be doing if he weren't an NBA player: “I'd probably be a firefighter or try my hand at football.”
Closest friends currently playing on other NBA teams: “Derrick Williams (of the Miami Heat) is one of my closest friends. We were in the same dorm at Arizona. We made our NCAA Tournament runs in college, and he was blessed to be drafted No. 2 overall. Good friends of mine from my last team in Indiana are Paul George and Glenn Robinson. Also Rakeem Christmas.”
Favorite type of music: “I really don't have a favorite type. It just depends on my mood. If I'm sitting down trying to read something, a little classical music never hurt. Before a game, some rap, some hip-hop. At night, I might listen to some R&B.”
Favorite TV shows: “Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Nurse Jackie. But I think my favorite of those is Game of Thrones.”
Favorite movie of all time: “Forrest Gump.”
Favorite website: “Nike.com.”
