Not every youngster gets to practice his 3-point shot with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen or play H-O-R-S-E with Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki.
Tim Hardaway Jr. did.
Those were some of the advantages of having a professional basketball player for a father. Tim Hardaway Sr. played 13 NBA seasons and after he retired, he watched as his son made his way to the NBA. Hardaway Jr. just completed his third pro season and first with the Hawks. Even though he will be on vacation on Sunday, Hardaway Jr. will make one phone call on Sunday. It will be to his dad.
“You don’t really understand it until you are older, like elementary school, and you start to realize that you can see the difference and the amount of advantages you have as a kid,” Hardaway Jr. said. “It’s a blessing but you definitely don’t take it for granted.”
Hardaway Sr. knows it wasn’t always easy on his son. There were times when he took some of the public criticism aimed at his father.
“It’s hard to be the son of an NBA ballplayer, especially the level I played at and that everybody knew me,” Hardaway Sr. said. “He went to school and he had a lot of people who were negative toward him, telling him, ‘Your dad is no good.’ Just trying to bring him down and not feel good about himself. …
“There is negative stuff and press about people every day. If you have a chance to make it in the NBA and you are not playing well, believe me, you are going to have some negative press about you, too.”
Hardaway Jr. had to learn — often the hard way — who to trust as a child. He said it was easier as he got “older, smarter and more mature.”
The NBA life is not easy on families. Hardaway Jr. had to rely on his mother to take him and his sister to school, practices and games while his father was on the road. The three would sit together in the evening to watch games on television.
Hardaway Sr. retired in 2003. He had a chance to play another season with the Los Angeles Clippers, but said he turned around on his way to the airport. The time had come to be at home. Hardaway Jr. was 11 years old at the time.
“They called me Mr. Mom about one point in Miami because I was doing stuff (at home). But I had missed out on a lot,” Hardaway Sr. said.
From there, Hardaway Jr. used all those experience as a youngster and built on them while in high school and college at Michigan.
“As a father that has played this game, you could see his love of the game, first of all, and you could see bits and pieces of him wanting to play the game at a high level,” Hardaway Sr. said. “With your son out there working out and doing everything he could possibly do to make it in the game of basketball that you love and played, when you see it — because you see stuff your kid does — you say, ‘Maybe he has a future in this.’
“You keep trying to pick him up. No negativity at all. Help him understand how to work on his game. Try to help as much as possible without getting in the way and taking over.”
Hardaway Sr. is back in the NBA now. He is an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons, which means that several times during a season, it is father vs. son. It’s not fun.
“Nerve-wracking,” Hardaway Sr. “Sometimes, it’s my scout (report) and I have to say, ‘You’ve got to push up on Tim. You can’t let him take a jump shot. You have to make him drive.’ It’s tough. I want him to excel but I do want to win the game.
“If he excels and we win the game, I’m in a win-win situation. If we don’t win and he excels, I’m still in a win-win situation. I always want him to excel. Blood is thicker than water. That’s my man.”
The two remain close. Even as they each endure the travel and grind of the NBA, they can always pick up the phone.
“We talk and text,” Hardaway Jr. said. “He critiques my games here and there, but not too much. He knows that he is a coach with the Pistons and I’m on another team. But at the end of the day, he’s still my father. He has been around the game for half his lifetime and he knows what it takes to be the best and be an all-star.
“It’s great to have that in your back pocket and that he is just one phone call or one text away. He really helps me out a lot. He critiques my game and still finds a way to give me fatherly advice about life.”
