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If Tim Hardaway Sr. is feeling any tender emotions about Tim Hardaway Jr. playing for the Miami Heat, he’s only letting that sentiment go so far.
Hardaway Jr., 34, agreed to a one-year, $6.5 million deal with the Heat. He returns to South Florida, where he attended Miami Palmetto High School. But more importantly, he’ll play for the team with whom his father played for six seasons of his Hall of Fame career.
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Would it be fun to see Hardaway Jr. wear the same jersey humber as his father? Most might think so. But Hardaway Sr. is drawing a line there. The junior Hardaway will have to establish his own story in a Heat uniform.
“My legacy is my legacy, and he’s doing it his way. Even though he likes to wear 10, he loves to wear 10, but that is not coming down from the rafters,” Hardaway Sr. said on the “Hoch, Crowder & Solana Show” on Miami’s WQAM.
“That’s tough to do,” he acknowledged. “When it’s up there, you want it to stay up there and you don’t want nobody to touch it.”
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In six seasons with Miami, Hardaway Sr. averaged 17.3 points, 7.8 assists and 1.5 steals, shooting 36% on 3-pointers. He was named to two NBA All-Star teams, also earning first-team and second-team all-NBA honors. The Heat retired Hardaway Sr.’s No. 10 in 2009.
Hardaway Sr. said he and his son discussed this possibility approximately five years ago when Hardaway Jr. looked at signing with the Heat before going to Dallas Mavericks. But according to Hardaway Sr., both he and his wife said wearing No. 10 in Miami wouldn’t happen.
The younger Hardaway wore his father’s No. 10 in college at Michigan and with the Atlanta Hawks, Mavericks and Denver Nuggets during his 13 NBA seasons. But he’s also worn No. 5 and No. 3 in two separate stints with the New York Knicks and No. 8 with the Detroit Pistons.
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As the senior Hardaway mentioned, this is not a new stance for him. He also made his feelings clear two years ago while appearing on “The OGs” podcast with former Heat players Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller.
“He will not be wearing my number ever, if he gets on the Heat team,” Hardaway Sr. said. “That number is never coming down. You are not going to wear my jersey. You see how I walk now? It hurts when I walk. That’s why my jersey is up there.”
Hardaway Jr. eventually signed a one-year deal with the Pistons as a free agent.
In his 13 NBA seasons, he’s averaged 13.7 points and shot 37% on 3s.
