Getty Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning (L) and Tim Hardaway (R) celebrate as the New York Knicks
Tim Hardaway is finally going to get the well-deserved honor of being inducted to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend. The Miami Heat legend will be inducted along with other notable 2022 Hall of Fame inductees, Manu Ginobili, Swin Cash, George Karl, and more.
Hardaway’s legendary career is highlighted by his time with the Run-TMC Golden State Warriors as well as the Miami Heat with Alonzo Mourning. The point guard talked about the circumstances that led for him going to South Beach and becoming a key part of some exciting Miami Heat teams. The point guard was put on the trading block for Golden State and told Heat center Alonzo Mourning to push for a trade for him.
“I told ‘Zo, `Trade for me (and) I’ll get y’all to the playoffs.’ I come from a head strong city in Chicago. I went to Miami and did what I was supposed to do, understood what Riley wanted, and we took off. We needed each other. Riley needed me and I needed him,” Hardaway said.
Pat Riley and Alonzo Mourning Left Off Hardaway’s Hall of Fame Presentors
After six seasons with the Heat, Hardaway not including Pat Riley or Alonzo Mourning as presenters for his Hall of Fame enshrinement. Riley and Mourning are both eligible to be presenters with their Hall of Fame status, but both will be absent from the ceremony involving Hardaway. The former Heat point guard recently spoke on this and why it isn’t a snub. It was to honor the people that helped get him to the All-Star caliber talent he was in Miami.
Hardaway will be presented by Isiah Thomas (Hall Class of 2000), Mitch Richmond (‘ 14), Chris Mullin (‘ 11), Yolanda Griffith (‘ 21), and Nate Archibald (‘ 91). He shared the reasons behind his decision-making with Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.
“There’s one thing I do know I want to tell you, it takes a village to raise a kid, Chicago South Side raised a kid. This is Chicago South Side. This is for them,” Hardaway said “Isaiah Thomas, I grew up watching him play, my basketball idol, no question, from the city of Chicago. Nate Archibald, my college assistant coach, came back to his alma mater and coached me [at Texas-El Paso] and helped me understand. Yolanda Griffith, we went to high school together. We graduated in the same class. And I wanted to acknowledge her as being the first, before me, and wanted people to understand that. She was a Hall of Famer before me, and she needs to be recognized.”
Hardaway noted that Riley and Mourning aren’t the only ones that may be left out of the weekend and apologized for those that will be.
“I’m sorry, everybody can’t be there,” he said of those standing alongside on stage. “And I’ll tell you this, in my speech, I can’t even mention a lot of people that I want to mention, because it’s a lot of us going up this year. So I can’t mention a lot of people I want to mention.”
Hardaway Hall of Fame Enshrinement
Hardaway is a legendary point guard with an iconic point guard. It is surprising that he has gone this long without being inducted into the Hall of Fame. The reason many believe Hardaway hasn’t been honored until this year stems from a series of homophobic remarks Hardaway made during a 2007 radio interview. In the years following, Hardaway has gone to extended measures to learn, grow and make amends for his past egregious statements.