When he began his speech as one of the Manny Jackson Human Spirit Award winners Thursday night in Springfield, Grant Hill mentioned that he was a nearly 40-year-old man still playing against 20-year-olds, trying to chase his dream of an NBA championship.

Hill was perhaps the youngest current or former player in the room, the lone current NBA player to appear at the first night of the Hall of Fame festivities. On this night, he was a young man amongst elders, an admittedly humbling experience as Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, and Bill Sharman were among those watching his speech.