"He put fear in the league" — Penny Hardaway reminds everyone how good Tim Hardaway was in his prime
Tim Hardway and Penny Hardaway
© RVR Photos and Petre Thomas - USA TODAY Sports
Kids nowadays know the name Tim Hardaway because of his son, Dallas Mavericks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. The scion is one heck of a baller. But the father, Hardaway Sr. paralyzed his defenders using his vaunted killer crossover move. Penny Hardaway, who got a chance to play against Tim in his prime, shared how lethal the guard was.
Fear
According to Penny, Tim put fear in the league when he was at his best. He reiterated how deadly Tim’s crossover was. The funny thing is, that Tim knew that defenders were on the lookout for it. And so sometimes he did it just for kicks; just to further intimidate the defender.
“He had fear in the league when he was going through a stretch. Watching him play, this dude had fear. His prime, he had fear in the league. That crossover was what it was, it was deadly. It was nasty. He couldn’t be stopped. Sometimes he’d just be doing it just to let you know I’m about to give it to you again. He was one of the few guards to me that put fear in the league. When you know he’s coming to town, you know you had to get your sleep,” Penny said.
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Tim came into the limelight right from the get-go donning the Golden State Warriors jersey. He was a member of the lethal Run TMC, comprised of him, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin. Their high-octane offense was led by Tim; they achieved relative success in the early 90s. In the 1990-91 NBA Season, despite being the 7th seed, they were able to go to the Western Conference Semifinals.
Killer vision
While most known for his crossover, Tim also possessed a killer vision -- he averaged 8.2 assists for his career. Three times in his career, Hardaway averaged at least 10 dimes per game for an entire season. These are outstanding numbers no matter what era you are from.
Penny didn’t mention it, but in one of their duels with Tim’s Warriors, the guard logged in 22 assists. Yes, the Orland Magic won with Penny dropping 38, but Tim’s performance was something else.
This was a good reminder from Penny. Before the likes of Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving broke their ankles’ defenders, Tim Hardaway was the most feared point guard in the league.
