Malcolm Hill scores first NBA points vs. Bulls

Former Illinois star Malcolm Hill scored his first-career points in the NBA on Monday night against the Bulls.

Hill was signed last week to a 10-day deal with the Atlanta Hawks, who are decimated with COVID issues.

Hill made two free throws in the third quarter of Monday’s game.

Hill finished the 130-118 loss with four points, all of which came from the charity stripe.

A 6-foot-6 native of Belleville, Hill has been around the world since graduating from Illinois in 2017. Before joining the Hawks, he had been with the Birmingham Squadron of the G League.

As an Illini, Hill played during the largely forgettable John Groce era, but ranks third on the school’s all-times scoring list (1,846 points) and is the only Illinois player ever to record multiple 600-point seasons.

On a personal note, as someone who went to school during half of Malcolm’s tenure as an Illini, this is so exciting. Those teams had a lot of easy-to-forget names — and they had a lot of turnover — but Malcolm was the one guy (other than Kendrick Nunn, who left the program for other reasons) who I was always excited to see. In some ways, he was Ayo before Ayo. I’m just geeked for him.

Also notable, Hill’s first points came against Ayo’s Bulls. Dosunmu made his return over the weekend after entering the league’s health and safety COVID protocols earlier this month.