Tim Hardaway Jr. beginning to live up to that contract
Tim Hardaway Jr. #3 of the New York Knicks reacts after a three point basket in the fourth quarter against the Toronto Raptors at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017 in New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Some NBA players are great from the start. Some have greatness — and $71 million — thrust upon them.
Tim Hardaway Jr. isn’t a great player yet, even though coach Jeff Hornacek used that word after he scored a career-high 38 points in a 108-100 victory over the Raptors at the Garden on Wednesday night.
What Hornacek actually said was that in the second half of last season with Atlanta, Hardaway “had started to turn the corner in terms of being a great player.”
Good timing, then, because Hardaway became a restricted free agent and the post-Phil Jackson Knicks front office signed him to a four-year, $71-million offer sheet. The Hawks declined to match and Hardaway rejoined his original team in one of the most criticized signings of the offseason — even among Knicks fans.
And guess what. If you were one of those Knicks fans who ridiculed the contract, Hardaway heard you.
Earlier this week, he told SlamOnline.com: “I have to use [the criticism] as motivation. I take it as those are your fans and they’re coming at you with that. It hurts. But at the same time, you can’t harp on that. You have to go out there and show that you deserve what the Knicks offered.”
He certainly did on Wednesday. Hardaway scored 12 points during the Knicks’ franchise-record 28-0 third-quarter run. Overall, he shot 13-for-27 and added six rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one block. For the season, Hardaway is second on the team in scoring to Kristaps Porzingis at 18.4 points per game.
But that’s not the only part of Hardaway’s game that has Hornacek using the “G” word.
“There’s been a lot of talk about how Tim has stepped up his defense since his rookie year,” Hornacek said. “He’s been in the league five years, and when he was in Atlanta, they forced him to make sure he played defense. He’s doing a great job of that . . . He finished the last half of the season having a very good second half and we knew that was just kind of the beginning. I don’t think there was any concern about bringing him back. Steve [Mills] did a great job of figuring out how we could get him and what it might take.”
It took $71 million, which was far more than most NBA pundits thought Hardaway would get.
Seventeen games in, is Hardaway a bargain now?
“He’s playing great and I love his intensity,” Hornacek said. “He’s an intense person out there. Sometimes maybe too much. But it’s all about winning. He wants to win. ”
Said Hardaway: “Thankful to be back here. It’s a wonderful opportunity for me. I’m happy. I’m excited. This group loves one another. You can see out there on the floor we’re playing for one another. The passion is there. Like I said, we’re continuing to look for our identity. That’s what I love about this team.”
One thing Hardaway has shown he doesn’t love in his second stint in New York is engaging with the media. Especially on Wednesday, when the topic turned from his great night to the Knicks’ next game on Friday in Hardaway’s return to Atlanta.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen,” he said. “Right now, I’m going to enjoy this with my family, friends, and then you can ask me that question on Friday.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
