Fresh off a run to the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks are feeling good about their chances in the West this season. But after watching his son’s role take a gradual decline in 2024, Tim Hardaway Sr. reminded us on “All the Smoke” podcast that the process wasn’t so easy for everyone.
Matt Barnes: “Your family almost got a ring last season. He went from someone they paid that was playing a lot and then all of a sudden just wasn’t playing no more. What was it like trying to keep his mental into it and what were those conversations like during that time where he should have been out there and just wasn’t?
Tim Hardaway: “As a pops it’s tough knowing that your son’s supposed to be out there. Him knowing that he can help the team win. But for some reason, Jason Kidd and Nico are not telling nobody what’s the deal. And that’s the hard part. I played with you on the 2000 Olympic team, we got gold together, we all in this fraternity. And you don’t have the dignity to go to my son and just say ‘Hey, this x,y, z’ this is why I’m not playing you.'”
Jason Kidd and Tim Hardaway were never teammates in the NBA but they did play together in the summer of 2000. As two of the top guards in the league at the time, Kidd and Hardaway led Team USA to the gold after a win over France, along with Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton, Vince Carter, and Kevin Garnett.
It’s been over two decades since that Olympic run but the players on that team share a common experience that will never be forgotten. So when Hardaway’s son, Tim Hardaway Jr., became Kidd’s coach on the Mavericks, the NBA Hall of Famer expected an open and honest line of communication.
At first, Hardaway Jr. found a solid place in the rotation, as a starter alongside Luka Doncic. After averaging 16.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game in the 2020-21 campaign, he even secured a lucrative new contract worth $75 million over four years.
Unfortunately for Hardaway, his role and minutes saw a gradual decline over last season and by the time the playoffs began, Hardaway was almost out of the rotation completely.
Going into next season, the final year of his contract, the situation with Hardaway has never been more unclear. With the arrival of Klay Thompson, the Mavericks concluded there was no more room for Tim Hardaway Jr. and they sent him on his way to the Pistons in exchange for Quentin Grimes and three future second-round picks.
At 32 years old, it remains to be seen if Hardaway’s best days on the court are behind or ahead but he still has plenty to give as a veteran sharpshooter with respectable ball-handling skills. On the Pistons, he’ll need to give everything he has in order to stay relevant and create any sort of success.
It’s a wildly different situation than the Mavericks, who are gunning for a championship after coming within one win of one last season. Between Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, and Dereck Lively II, the team in Dallas is poised to make some major noise this season and cement themselves as a true contender in the West.
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