Getty Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry is defended by Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving.
With his trio of All-Star nods and crucial role as a part of “Run TMC”, Tim Hardaway continues to live in Golden State Warriors lore, nearly two decades after his final game in the NBA. Along with Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond, Hardaway helped in leading the Dubs to multiple playoff berths in the early 1990s and creating some of the most exciting basketball action in the Western Conference.
Nowadays, fans are used to seeing a younger Hardaway putting in buckets, and some are dreaming of a Tim Hardaway Jr.-Warriors signing this summer. Whether or not the Hardaway-Dubs reunion of sorts actually happens remains to be seen, but Hardaway Sr. clearly is pulling for the signing.
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The Warriors all-time leader in assists per game recently hopped on The Morning Roast on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco to talk not only about his son, but current Golden State franchise player Stephen Curry.
‘When [Curry] Is Healthy, When He Is 100%, He Is Right up There’
GettyGolden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry before a game in May.
Earlier in June, Curry was on the receiving end of the ultimate type of praise from former Boston Celtics All-Star Isaiah Thomas. The final pick of 2011 NBA Draft named Steph as his choice for the greatest point guard in NBA history, and while Hardaway wasn’t ready to go quite that far, he has tremendous admiration and respect and the scoring champion as well.
He’s right up there. He changed the game tremendously, coming down, shooting from halfcourt, shooting from anywhere, moving without the basketball, keep the defense on their heels. He is right up there. You cannot discount Steph Curry’s play and what he has done for the game of basketball, the last six, seven, eight years. Everyone wants to be Steph.
If Warriors fans were to really nitpick at Hardaway’s complete dialogue on Curry though, they may be surprised at what else he had to say.
Steph is right up there. Unfortunately, he goes through these health problems every now and then, but when he is healthy, when he is 100%, he is right up there.
Through Steph’s first eight seasons, durability was hardly a problem for the two-time league MVP, as he appeared in at least 74 games in seven of the campaigns. Over the last four years, Curry’s game totals have been 51, 69, five most recently, 63.
The 68 contests over the last two seasons was obviously partially due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but still, Hardaway has a good point.
‘Would Have Been Tough’ for Dubs to Win 2015 Finals if Irving Was Healthy
GettyCleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving during Game One of the 2015 NBA Finals.
Dub Nation may simply raise an eyebrow at Hardaway’s comments on Curry, but what he had to say on the team’s 2015 NBA Finals win over the Cleveland Cavaliers could certainly spark controversy. In discussing the talents of former Cavs star Kyrie Irving on the The Morning Roast, Hardaway argued that the series may have had a different outcome if “Uncle Drew” had been able to play all six games.
Kyrie Irving is right up there, too. I’ll tell you this. And I love the Bay Area. But if Kyrie Irving did not go down the first championship series, it would have been tough for the Warriors to win that first series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kyrie Irving is a problem. He is a definite problem. And he showed you that the next year by making those shots. I hate to say that, but I think we all think like that.
Again, while Warriors fans may not love what Hardaway had to say, the argument seems, at worst, worth a discussion. Irving has been an elite talent since early in his NBA career, and while Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green have been a solid trio over the years, in many minds, the combination of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love would have been better over a seven-game series.
Fortunately for Cleveland, they would get a shot a redemption the next year with a (mostly) healthy “Big 3” – Love missed one game of the Finals – and eventually took out the Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals in a seven-game classic.
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