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Timothy Duane Hardaway (born September 1 , 1966 in Chicago, Illinois ) is a former NBA basketball player, who in his prime was one of the league's best at the Point Guard position. Listed at a mere 6'0" tall (although he is actually slightly shorter), he was best known for his Crossover Dribble (coined by TV analysts as the ''UTEP Two-step''), a move which he utilized and which seemingly caused a revolution in the NBA, and is still used by many of today's players, notably Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury . His nickname is "Tim Bug". His crossover was known as the "killer Crossover ". After graduating from Carver High School in Chicago, Hardaway attended the University Of Texas At El Paso (UTEP) and won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the best college player under six feet tall. He was selected with the 14th pick of the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors . In his rookie season, Hardaway wore jersey number "5", as Manute Bol wore Hardaway's trademark "10." After Bol left the Warriors, Hardaway inherited it. On the Warriors, Hardaway was part of "Run TMC," which was the high-scoring trio of himself, Mitch Richmond , and Chris Mullin . As part of the Warriors attack, Hardaway was responsible for leading Run TMC's fast break, displaying his excellent passing and one-on-one skills to complement Mitch Richmond's slashing and Chris Mullin's shooting. Hardaway played for the Warriors until the middle of 1995-96 season when he was traded to the Miami Heat along with Chris Gatling where he played until 2001 . After that, he split his second last season with the Dallas Mavericks and the Denver Nuggets before playing ten games for the Indiana Pacers in his final season. In 2003, he announced his retirement from the game due to knee injuries. In his best seasons, Hardaway averaged 18 to 23 points and 8 to 10 assists per game. He reached 5000 points and 2500 assists faster than any NBA player, except Oscar Robertson . Hardaway has competed in five NBA All-Star Game s. He is the Miami Heat's all time leader in assists and together with Center Alonzo Mourning led the Heat to some of the franchise's best seasons. Unfortunately, Hardaway was injured for most of the Heat's playoff runs. He was an MVP candidate following the 1996-1997 season, making it to the All-NBA First Team after leading the Heat to the best record in franchise history while averaging 20.3 points, 8.6 assists, and being fourth in the league with 203 three-point baskets. After being traded from the Heat, Hardaway claimed he was never paid what he was worth. This despite signing a $12 million contract in 2000, his last year with the Heat. At the time he was highest paid point guard in NBA history. During his time with the Miami Heat, Hardaway had a running feud with teammate Voshon Lenard . Lenard claimed he was unaware Hardaway harbored bad feelings for him until he {Link without Title} was traded to the Denver Nuggets and Hardaway had this to say about him; "Without me, he wouldn't be nowhere," Hardaway said. "I'm the one that got his contract. I'm the one that made him what he is today. I don't need him. He needed me. What do I mean by that? I passed him the ball. I got him shots. I got him in position to get the shots. I done everything for him. Where he is today as a shooter and the confidence? It's me. I made him." Lenard had a few things to say in rebuttal about Hardaway. Lenard said Hardaway was not voted a Heat captain because players didn't want to vote for him. "I didn't care about being captain," Hardaway retorted. "I didn't want to be their captain." Hardaway said he couldn't believe Lenard said anything in the first place. "He wants to come off on me like that - that's an insult," Hardaway said. In 2002, Hardaway was briefly an NBA analyst for ESPN . He has a wife, Yolanda, and two children. Hardaway is currently a player/head coach of the Florida Pit Bulls of the ABA . EXTERNAL LINKS |
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