Tim Hardaway

Lore & Background

Hardaway was born in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from Carver Area High School in 1985. On August 29, 2022, his jersey was retired by Carver Area. He played college basketball for the UTEP Miners under head coach Don Haskins. Hardaway was twice named MVP of El Paso's Sun Bowl Invitational Tournament, in 1987 and 1988.

He played on teams that went to the NCAA Tournaments from 1986 to 1989. He won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award in 1989 as the best college player in the nation six feet tall or under. While playing for the Miners, Hardaway developed his crossover dribble move that was called the "UTEP two-step". He was selected as the 14th overall pick of the 1989 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors.

Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin formed a trio known as Run TMC. As a Warrior, Hardaway made the NBA All-Star Game three straight years. He suffered a torn ligament in his left knee that kept him out of the entire 1993–94 season. He reached 5,000 points and 2,500 assists faster than any other NBA player except Oscar Robertson.

Hardaway played for the Warriors until the middle of 1995–96 season when he was traded to the Miami Heat along with Chris Gatling in exchange for Kevin Willis and Bimbo Coles. Following the mid-season trade to Miami, Hardaway started 28 games to finish the season. The following season he finished 4th in voting for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, was selected to the All-NBA First Team as Miami won a franchise record 61 wins. He also played in the 1997 NBA All-Star Game.

In the 1997–98 season, Hardaway was selected to play in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game. That summer, Hardaway and Alonzo Mourning won a gold medal playing for the U.S.A. men's basketball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Following the 2000–01 season, Hardaway was traded to the Dallas Mavericks on August 22, 2001, for a second-round draft pick. He was at one time Miami's all-time leader in assists (2867).

With Dallas, he was mainly utilized off the bench. In the middle of the season, he was traded to the Denver Nuggets alongside Juwan Howard, Donnell Harvey and a future first-round draft pick in exchange for Nick Van Exel, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Raef LaFrentz and Avery Johnson. With the Nuggets he started 14 games.

Reader's Guide

Hardaway was the 1989 WAC Player of the Year. He recorded 5,000 points and 2,500 assists, second fastest in NBA history after Oscar Robertson. Hardaway accomplished it in 262 games; Robertson took only 247. He held the record for most assists in Miami Heat franchise history with 1,947, until his total was surpassed by Dwyane Wade on January 16, 2010.

Hardaway shares the record for second most steals in an NBA playoffs game, with 8 in Game 2 of the 1991 Western Conference Semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers and in Game 4 of the 1992 Western Conference First Round against the Seattle SuperSonics. In 1991–92, Hardaway became the 7th player in NBA history to average 20 points (23.4 ppg) and 10 assists (10.0 apg) in a season, a feat he accomplished again in 1992–93 (21.5 ppg, 10.6 apg). Hardaway holds the NBA record for the worst single-game shooting performance in NBA history, going 0-for-17 in a 106–102 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 27, 1991. Hardaway holds the Miami Heat's all-time record in 3-point field goals made.