Tim Hardaway finally gets long-overdue Hall of Fame induction. Better late than never | Opinion

Finally, after years of uncertainty, Tim Hardaway is getting the exclamation mark on his career that he so rightly deserves.

The former Miami Heat great and Golden State Warriors point guard will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday in Springfield, Massachusetts. Following five painful rejections, he got the phone call he was waiting for this past April.

He was at his home in West Bloomfield, Michigan, when the call came.

“I didn’t want to answer, I was shaking, scared, nervous, sweating,” said Hardaway, reached by phone on Wednesday. “It took about four rings. I finally picked it up and John [Doleva, Hall of Fame president] said `Hello Tim, I have better news than I normally have for you.’ That was a relief right there. The last five times he’d call and say, `You did not get enough votes.’ This time, he said `On behalf of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame I want to congratulate you on being inducted in Class of 2022.”

The magic words. Finally.

Hardaway, 56, said he cried “tears of joy,” went upstairs to tell his wife, and then called to share the long-awaited news with his children, his parents, former Warriors teammates Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin and other former teammates and friends.

“It was such a relief, we didn’t want to go through another rejection,” Hardaway said.

His basketball resume surely was never in question with Hall of Fame voters. Hardaway was a five-time NBA All-Star during the 1990s. He averaged 17.7 points and 8.2 assists during his 13-year career. His best season was 1991-92, when he averaged 23.4 points, 10 assists and two steals per game.

Standing just a hair under six feet tall, Hardaway befuddled opponents with his “killer crossover” dribble, which was dubbed the “UTEP two-step” while he was in college at Texas-El Paso. Despite his lack of height, he was one of the best finishers in the lane, and his step-back jumper was lethal.

The other two thirds of the Warriors’ “Run TMC” trio were already inducted — Mullen in 2011 and Richmond in 2014. Hardaway most certainly would have been voted in earlier, but his reputation was tarnished by homophobic comments he made during a 2007 radio interview with former Miami Herald columnist Dan Le Batard.

Asked how he would deal with a gay teammate, a week after retired NBA center John Amaechi revealed he was gay, Hardaway said: “I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don’t like gay people, and I don’t like to be around gay people. I am homophobic.”

He apologized and spent the next 15 years atoning for those words. He reached out to LGBTQ organizations to educate himself, has become an advocate for gay causes, and voters were right to finally give him the nod.

In April 2013, when Jason Collins came out as the first active openly gay male athlete in a major American pro sport, Hardaway called to support him. In July 2013, Hardaway was the symbolic first signer of a petition to put a same-sex marriage proposal on the Florida ballot.

Asked if he feels his homophobic comments delayed his entry to the Hall, Hardaway replied: “Yes, that factored in. Correct.”

He understands the voters’ hesitancy to honor him over the years.

“People had to feel comfortable with me changing and doing what I needed to do to understand the words I said were wrong,” Hardaway said. “I had to show people I could change. And not only change but be genuine in doing it and make sure people knew that I’m not faking it. If anybody knows me, I am not a BSer. I took my mistake seriously. I wanted to turn a wrong into a right and make the LGBTQ community understand that I did them a disservice by saying that and nobody should ever disrespect other people.

“I’ve been making it right ever since that time.”

His speech will center on his growing up in the south side of Chicago, and how that molded him as a player and person. He also plans to pay tribute to both the Warriors and the Heat during the weekend.

“A lot of people want me to go in as a Golden State Warrior and I tell folks, `I gotta go in as a Golden State Warrior and Miami Heat because the six years I put in with both teams were about the same,” said Hardaway, whose No. 10 jersey was retired by the Heat. “I had great times with both teams. Both organizations were great. I made long-lasting friends in each city. What we did in Miami, nobody expected it, nobody expected Pat Riley to put a team together that quickly. We ate, slept and drank Miami Heat. Once we put on that uniform, it was all for one and one for all.”

Hardaway said when fans and media talk about “the Heat culture,” they tend to mention The Big 3 of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. While Hardaway has great respect for those players, he feels the Heat culture was cultivated during the 1990s.

“We had good leaders, first with Keith Askins, one of the great leaders that doesn’t get enough recognition. He was Udonis Haslem before it was Udonis Haslem, and a lot of people don’t know that,” Hardaway said. “Zo [Alonzo Mourning] and myself followed in his footsteps because he was the person that was there first, before us, and Pat Riley believed in Keith before he believed in us.”

Despite his fond memories of Miami, he did not choose anyone from the Heat organization to be among his presenters. Instead, he chose boyhood Chicago idol Isiah Thomas (Class of 2000), former Warriors teammates Richmond (Class of 2014) and Mullin (Class of 2011), high school classmate Yolanda Griffith (Class of 2021) and former UTEP assistant coach Nate Archibald (Class of 1991).

He said he plans to honor Riley, Mourning and other members of the Heat during his Friday news conference.

Hardaway feels his biggest contribution to the game was inspiring short players.

“As a short player I gave other short players confidence that they could come in and play tough basketball. Along with Isiah Thomas, we taught a generation of players that knowing how to dribble under control and make plays was fun and exciting. People are still doing my crossover dribble today.”

The crossover was born in the basement of his childhood home on Oglesby Street. Winters were long and cold in Chicago. He had no video games. So, he played make-believe basketball games against the basement pillars.

“Back when I was in grammar school and high school, the only thing you could on cold days was read or go downstairs and make up stuff. I dribbled around pillars like I was on fast break. I did my crossover, behind the back, between the legs. Two or three moves right in front of the pillar and then fake like I was going up for a layup. I dribbled, dribbled, dribbled, for hours and hours.”

That basement will be on his mind Saturday as his loved ones surround him in Springfield. Better late than never.