‘It’s home’: Tim Hardaway Jr. officially joins Miami Heat, who will unretire No. 10
· Yahoo Sports
MIAMI — On Monday, the Miami Heat officially announced the signing of free agent Tim Hardaway Jr., who will be coming to the franchise where his father, Tim Hardaway Sr., starred.
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Hardaway Sr.’s jersey has hung from the rafters of the Kaseya Center, retired. At least until Monday.
The five-time All-Star and Hall of Famer spent six seasons with Miami wearing No. 10, a digit no Heat player had sported for the last 17 years. However, with Hardaway Jr. back in town, the number will be active again.
“I’ve been wearing that number ever since I started playing the game of basketball because of my father,” Hardaway Jr. said Wednesday at his first press conference since the signing. “Always looked up to him ever since I started playing the game, still do to this day.”
When the opportunity to wear the same number and the same jersey presented itself, Hardaway said it was a no-brainer. He said this is the team he grew up watching and was inspired by, and on top of the family ties and all his history with Miami, he felt the organization and the team were the right fit.
Now with his one-year, reported $6.5 million contract signed, he turns his focus to wearing the jersey “with honor.”
“Coming here when I was an opponent, I feel like it gave me a superpower in a way to go out there and compete not only in front of friends and family but in front of that jersey in the rafters,” he said. “It’s home.”
As far as the decision to bring the jersey out of retirement, Hardaway Jr. didn’t share many details about the conversations he had that led to the comeback of No. 10.
However, it seems the whole Hardaway family is on board and ready to see the number back on the court. He described the thought process: “The first go-around it was a personal decision, and I think the second go-around was a family decision,” he said.
Hardaway Jr. signs the deal after another one-year stint with the Denver Nuggets. The sharpshooter shot a career-high 40.7% from deep and averaged 13.5 points per game in the campaign.
Despite the time away, signing with Miami is surely a homecoming for the 34-year-old. He grew up in South Florida, attending Miami Palmetto High School before heading to Michigan to play for the Wolverines in college.
“Happy to be home, this is definitely a surreal moment not only for myself but for my family,” Hardaway Jr. said. “It’s definitely an honor to be a part of this Heat family once again officially.”
Since playing in Miami as a kid, the first-round draft pick has had a successful last 13 seasons in the NBA. He’s played for the New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons before the aforementioned one-year stint with the Nuggets.
In each place, he’s been recognized for his knockdown 3-point shot.
“He’s had a great, great career in the pros, and so one of the very first names that popped up when we knew we needed to fortify our perimeter shooting and veteran-ism was Tim Jr.,” Heat President Pat Riley said.
Aside from his established presence and talent, the family connection adds a new dimension and a mix of nostalgia for Riley.
With Hardaway Sr.’s roots in Miami and the legacy he left, Riley said he didn’t know they were simultaneously opening the door for a second Heat legacy, even if that second one was just a kid at the time.
“I didn’t realize that we were cultivating Tim Hardaway Jr. at the same time,” Riley said.