Solomon Hill appreciated challenge of going against Kobe

Solomon Hill called it “surreal” to have the opportunity to go against Kobe Bryant.

He was just four years old when Kobe Bryant starting playing basketball.

Solomon Hill, a graduate of Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, got the first crack at defending the future Hall of Famer and he did so most of the night. Despite growing up on the West Coast and in L.A., Hill didn’t follow much of the NBA — or even the college game until high school. He was too busy playing himself. And video games, of course.

Even so, it was still surreal for him to guard, and be defended by one of the best to ever play in The Association.

“It’s definitely surreal,” Hill, 24, admitted after the Pacers handed the Los Angeles Lakers a 110-91 loss. “You’re talking about one of the greatest players of all-time being on the floor. But I can’t going into a mindset of looking like, ‘Oh my God, he’s Kobe,” when I have to guard this guy. He can going out there at any given moment and put 81 [points] on you.”

Bryant, who moved into third place all-time on the league’s scoring list the previous night in Minnesota, tallied 21 points but it took him 26 shots to get there. And, as coach Frank Vogel noted, just three free throws.

The key for Hill defensively was to make everything difficult, contest every shot, and don’t foul him in the paint.

Hill, just in his second season, wisely spoke about one thing he was sure not to do against No. 24.

“I would never talk to Kobe,” he said when asked if they had a conversation during the game. “You don’t want to give him anything to get going. That can be the one difference. You get a guy like him, you say something and he takes it the wrong way, it’s a whole different Kobe. It’s already bad enough as it is, with the type of player he is and what he can do, you don’t want to give a guy like that any more ammunition.”

More than an hour after the game, Kobe touched on going against Hill.

“I thought he competed hard, in that he moved his feet and I thought he played well,” Bryant said of Hill. A compliment, albeit small. But what we’re you expecting?

Late in the third period, with the Pacers up more than 30, there was Bryant hustling after the ball and laying his body on the line. He attempted to save a ball on the far sideline and nearly landed in the lap of Pacers broadcasters Chris Denari and Quinn Buckner.

That, in one play, is reason No. 4723 he has been so good. His competitive mindset is through the roof and he doesn’t have an off switch.

“You could turn the scoreboard off, and he’s still going to play the same way the entire time — and that’s one thing you have to expect about a guy like that,” said Hill.

Paul George grew up watching Bryant play. Hill watched some. If there’s anything those two can take away, it’s Bryant’s competitive edge and his leadership.

Hill is in the infancy stage of his career, but he’s shown that he’s a fast learner.