Sicklerville, New Jersey, is a village located along the American East Coast, touched by the Atlantic City Expressway. It takes about 40 minutes to go from here to one the gambling capital of the World. But the citizens of this village founded in 1851 by John Sickler, that’s where the name is coming from, rather gravitate toward the Delaware river and the city of Philadelphia. In a regular traffic condition, you can get to the City of Brotherly Love in 25 minutes. Kyle Hines is from Sicklerville and a sports enthusiast, just like his little brother Tyler and just like his dad. According to the story he tells, his father put a basketball in his crib, but Kyle tried many different sports, track and field, karate, football of course. But when it was time to go to high school and every single day, he had to burn 20 miles to get to Camden, basketball became his only focus. Fortunately, in 2001, the Timber Creek High School, a lot closer to Sicklerville, was opened. His coach was Gary Saunders, Leon Saunder’s brother. Leon attended the Roosevelt High School in Long Island (New York metro area, but not far from South Jersey where Kyle is from) during the ‘60s and played next to the legendary Julius Erving. Back in the day, Doctor J used to wear the number 42. Since Saunders thought that Hines’ demeanor was similar to Doc’s, he demanded that he wore the same number. “The motivation was an honor, Doctor J has been a special person not just a legendary player,” he says.
Hines just became the all-time EuroLeague leading offensive rebounder, one more achievement to add to a sequence of records, triumphs, milestones. It is a big accomplishment because – left Delipe Reyes behind -, Kyle has a big enough margin over the followers (Ante Tomic, Othello Hunter) that he will probably stay there for some time. To become the best offensive rebounder ever, he defeated the height disadvantage (do you have ever seen a 6-foot-7 center being so efficient?) and Father Time because he is almost 36 and still brilliant, fresh. This is the product of experience, charisma, respect that he earned during his legendary career.
Kyle Hines was already an excellent player for Timber Creek high, but when you are confined in a small South Jersey town, far from the big scouts’ routes, it is hard to catch their attention. Hines was built as a linebacker, but his playing style at the time was reserved to seven-footer (however, many overlooked his incredible ball-handling, his ability to dribble for the length of the floor keeping the basketball on the ground). Fran McCaffery took notice. He was a former point guard from the Philadelphia area, who was the head coach at UNC-Greensboro, along the East Coast but down, in North Carolina, the very same town where Bob McAdoo was born. McCaffery used his Philadelphia connections, he received the right tip and decided to give Kyle Hines trust and an opportunity. His Spartans became immediately a Southern Conference powerhouse. The point guard was Ricky Hickman, Kyle Hines was the starting center. Five European championships in the same line-up. At UNC-Greensboro, Hines set every type of school record (sound familiar?). He was player of the year for the Southern Conference as a junior, he finished second behind Steph Curry – yes, he was playing in the same conference, at Davidson – in his senior year. His college career was one for the ages: he finished as one of six players to ever have at least 2.000 points, 1.000 rebounds and 300 blocked shots. Are you interested in the names of the others five? Four NBA draft number 1 picks (Pervis Ellison, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, and Derrick Coleman) and a number 2 (Alonzo Mourning).
In truth, McCaffery left UNC-Greensboro for a career jump, to the Siena College and later to a big-time job at Iowa. Mike Dement replaced him as the head man. At the time in college basketball, a player was allowed to change school without staying inactive for one season only in particular cases. A coach leaving the school is one of these cases. Hines could have taken advantage of the situation, make the jump to a school where the exposure could have been better, but he was comfortable at UNCG and stayed. As a junior, he also faced Virginia Tech where a young kid coming off the bench, Malcolm Delaney was emerging.
His draft was the 2008 draft. He was coming from a small school, a small conference, but he had outstanding numbers during a period dominated by Steph Curry’s Davidson. Hines went to Portsmouth, for a pre-draft camp to showcase himself. He showed a lot of energy, he was in fantastic shape. When they took the test, he had 3.8 percent of bod fat, almost unheard of. But the height was a major problem immediately. He was six feet, five inches and 25 wearing shoes. He had long arms but nothing particularly eye-popping. Othello Hunter and James Gist, two players on their way to become historical EuroLeague players, were there too. On the NBA official website, Hines was indicated as a small forward/power forward. They didn’t have the guts to label a 6-foot-6 player as a center. He was not drafted.
He didn’t take it well, honestly. He could’t have predicted was the future held for him, otherwise he would have been probably happy. He tried out for Oklahoma City and Charlotte, next to where his college for four year was located. He had his number retired; he was considered the school’s best player ever. Nothing happened. Cleveland invited him. No offer was extended. So, when Andrea Trinchieri offered him a contract to play in Veroli, the Italian second league, he didn’t have a hard time convincing him. “I was living in a very small town, but I could have not become what I’m now with no Veroli. I met important people, Jerome Allen on the court, Trinchieri and Massimo Cancellieri were my coaches, Antonello Riva was my general manager. I was a young guy who had never been overseas. The town was small, but they kind of adopted me, they made everything to make me feel protected,” he says.
It would be easy now to assume that everything started in Veroli and everything was crystal clear right from that beginning. It was not crystal clear. Hines had to stay in Veroli for two seasons. An undersized center did not convince anybody easily. The first people to understand him were in Bamberg. The Canadian coach Chris Fleming, now an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls, built the team around him. He stayed one year in Germany, right before Nicolò Melli went there, he won the German championship, he was named MVP and made his debut in the EuroLeague. Olympiacos was fighting for the championships, Dusan Ivkovic was the coach. Olympiacos offered him a chance at the highest level among general criticisms. The answer was amazing. Olympiacos won back-to-back EuroLeague titles. During his first year, he didn’t play very well in the Final Four, but he was decisive during a playoff series won in four games over Siena. Over the three Olympiacos’ wins, Hines scored 49 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. The following season, at the London Final Four, he had 13 points and 10 rebounds during the semifinal triumph over CSKA and 12 points (4-for-4 from the field, 4-for-5 from the line), five rebounds, three steals and three shots blocked against Real Madrid. He became a legend. But what he has done is going beyond the wins.
Over two seasons spent in Athens, he opened a way. He was a trail blazer. He proved that an undersized center could go a long way in Europe, even if he is not an outstanding outside shooter. “Mike Batiste at Panathinaikos probably was the first to prove it, basketball evolved in a way that allowed me to have the career that I had, despite the size, because defensively all the switches are helping me,” he explains. Kyle Hines’ won the EuroLeague two more times in Moscow, in 2016 and 2019 alongside Sergio Rodriguez. During his time at CSKA, he was coached by Ettore Messina in his first season there, he was named Defensive Player of the Year twice. He has then been included to the EuroLeague all-decade best team. “When I started to play in the EuroLeague, in Bamberg, there was no way to predict anything like that, a long career, all the wins and the Final Four trips,” he confessed recently. In Moscow, Hines was signed in 2013 and his personal streak of Final Four participations was kept alive. “I have been lucky, I played close to Rome and saw the Coliseum, I have been in Athens and walked over the first Olympic track, I was in Moscow and passed by the Red Square countless times. Basketball led me to places there was no way for me to see,” he said. At home, he is involved in a lot of activities for the youth raised in his hometown. “When me and my brother were kids, we didn’t have camps and opportunities in our town, we had to go out of town or in Philadelphia to find them. We decided to help the kids that now are in the same positions we were as kids,” he says.
Hines came to Milano during the summer of 2020 and here he was ale to extend his streak of Final Four participations. No American player has ever taken part in so many Final Fours or has won more titles. And he did with class, education, appreciation. All the American players, not just his teammates, looked up to him. He looks like a legend, but the legend is stepping on the court every other day, is almost 36 and still play high-level basketball, accumulating wins, records, highlights reels. He has appeared in more than 300 EuroLeague games, he has scored more than 2.500 points and grabbed more than 1.500 rebounds. Americans are coming to Europe late and finish earlier than the European players, for obvious reasons. Therefore, Kyle Hines’ numbers are amazing. And still, being him the ultimate team player, the most telling statistic is the one representing the championships won, the games won. Nobody has got more.
His future? It is not necessarily behind the corner. Hines has a communication degree; he has produced documentaries and is very active in this line of work. But he will remain in basketball, it couldn’t be any other way. “The day is not far, I’m aware of it, but I like to remind what Darryl Middleton, a CSKA’s assistant coach now, used to tell me. His career started when he was 35 years old. If I look behind me, I have no regrets, I got to know Europe, I played in the EuroLeague, experienced a lot of stuff, I have won a lot, played for great coaches and along great players, for some of the most historical teams in the world. My childhood dream was to play in the NBA, but today I’m almost glad it didn’t come true. At some point my dream became another, and it was in Europe.”
A highlight reel about Kyle Hines can take place everywhere, can materialize in a moment. It can be because a miraculous block, unexpected, made possible not necessarily by his jumping ability but because his strength, timing, quickness. Or it can be because a fastbreak led from coast-to-coast and finished with an assist. Offensive rebounds are his main trait, however. He is almost more efficient under the offensive glass than the defensive one. But his secret is in his preparation, intensity, smartness. And then all of these became charisma. Kyle Hines is what Dino Meneghin was for basketball in the ‘80s. It’s never a matter of personal stats, their magnitude serves only the purpose of generating what matters the more. Winning.
