Hardaway Jr. reflects on Heat - Knicks rivalry, swapping sides
Tim Hardaway Jr. was sitting across from the Miami bench to watch one of the toughest blows in Heat history. Allan Houston's go-ahead shot with 0.8 seconds left in the deciding Game 5 of a 1999 first-round series is one of the lasting highlights of the fierce playoff rivalry the New York Knicks had with the Heat in the late 1990s. Hardaway's father starred for Miami, works for the Heat now, and on Friday both were reminded again of that shot.
A picture of it hangs in the younger Hardaway's new basketball home. The Knicks took him with the No. 24 pick in the NBA draft. ''It's very ironic,'' his father said at the Knicks' practice facility. ''The years that I played and the rivalry that we had, now it's coming full circle. My son is going to play for the Knicks. I'm very happy for him. It's not about me, it's about him, and it's about him being happy now and I'm happy for him.'' The elder Hardaway was with the Heat when they played the Knicks in four straight postseasons from 1997-00. His name hangs from the rafters in Miami, and he works for the team as a community liaison and scout.
Wearing a blue dress shirt that matched the Knicks' colors, his son seemed comfortable now on the other side. ''It's ironic but not awkward at all,'' Hardaway Jr. said. ''He's happy for me whatever team I went to and that's what a father should do. He should be happy for his son, whatever team it is, whether it's a rivalry or not. So it's a great opportunity.'' Hardaway played three seasons for Michigan, helping the Wolverines reach last season's national championship game, where they lost to Louisville. The 6-foot-6 guard averaged 14.3 points for his career.Read the rest here http://sports.yahoo.com/news/hardaway-jr-switches-sides-heat-192620735-…
is quite the same situation as the US and the USSR at the height of the Cold War. Looks like another writer trying to create a storyline. I don't see much reflection there either. He played there, I was drafted here. We'll live. He doesn't have to give up his memories, in fact, I'll bet his teammates will enjoy hearing some of the stories. I'll bet his dad's co-workers won't disown him for watching his son play, either. I'm guessing that THJ still gets to go home and eat turkey at Thanksgiving, too.
"Looking at his son as an evaluator, Hardaway saw a player who could have done more on the court but resisted the temptation, knowing it wasn't the best thing for a young Michigan team that had national player of the year Trey Burke." - from the article
It's an interesting thing to say certainly, considering that this last season his son accounted for about 20% of all of Michigan's FG attempts, 25% of made three-pointers, about 20% of the total points and about 18% of all defensive rebounds. Throw in about 18% of all free throws made and about one-sixth of all the assists, and Hardaway Sr.'s son has been doing quite a bit already really. THJ contributed to that success in a huge way, and hopefully he can be just as valuable to the Knicks.