Tim Hardaway

In the playoffs, Hardaway averaged 26 points a game as the Heat defeated the Orlando Magic in the first round in 5 games, and then defeated the New York Knicks in 7 games in the semifinals, in which Hardaway scored 38 points in the 7th game.

Miami would once again fall to the defending champion Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals in 5 games.

The following season was a huge success for Miami and for Hardaway, as he finished 4th in voting for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, was selected to the All-NBA First Team as Miami won a franchise record 61 wins.

Hardaway started in 81 games, averaging 20.3 points, 8.6 assists, while placing fourth in the league with 203 three-point baskets.

Timothy Duane Hardaway Sr. (born September 1, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player.

Hardaway played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers.

He was a five-time NBA All-Star and All-NBA Team selection.

Hardaway was born in Chicago, Illinois, and he graduated from Carver Area High School in 1985.

Hardaway played college basketball for the UTEP Miners under head coach Don Haskins, a future member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Hardaway was twice named MVP of El Paso's Sun Bowl Invitational Tournament, in 1987 and 1988.

He played on teams that went to the NCAA Tournaments in 1988 and 1989.

He won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award in 1989 as the best college player in the nation six feet (1.83 m) tall or under.

While playing for the Miners, Hardaway developed his crossover dribble move that was called the "UTEP two-step".

Hardaway was selected as the 14th overall pick of the 1989 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors.

In his rookie season, Hardaway wore number 5 on his jersey, as Manute Bol wore Hardaway's 10.

After Bol left the Warriors, Hardaway acquired the number.

Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin formed a trio known as Run TMC (the initials of the players' first names and a play on the name of the popular rap group Run-DMC).

As part of the Warriors' attack, Hardaway was responsible for leading Run TMC's fast break, displaying his excellent passing and one-on-one skills to complement Richmond's slashing and Mullin's shooting.

Golden State made the playoffs during the 1990–91 season, Hardaway's second season and his first season in the playoffs.

In the first round, the 7th seeded Warriors defeated the 2nd seeded San Antonio Spurs led by All-Star David Robinson in 4 games to advance to face the 3rd seeded Los Angeles Lakers led by NBA legend Magic Johnson.

The Warriors managed to steal a game on the road in game 2, but could not defeat the more experienced Lakers, falling in five games despite Hardaway averaging 26.8 points, 12.8 assists and 3.8 steals for the series.

Hardaway averaged a career-high 23.4 points a game in the 1991–92 season, as the Warriors fell in the first round of the playoffs to the Seattle SuperSonics.

The following season Hardaway averaged a career-high 10.6 assists a game to get with his scoring average of 21.5, but the Warriors did not make the playoffs and would not return to postseason action for the remainder of Hardaway's tenure with the team.

As a Warrior, Hardaway made the NBA All-Star Game three straight years, and a knee injury kept him out of the entire 1993–94 season.

He reached 5,000 points and 2,500 assists faster than any other NBA player except Oscar Robertson.

Hardaway played for the Warriors until the middle of 1995–96 season when he was traded to the Miami Heat along with Chris Gatling in exchange for Kevin Willis and Bimbo Coles.

Following the mid-season trade to Miami, Hardaway started 28 games to finish the season, averaging 17.2 points a game with 10 assists.

Miami made the playoffs but were swept in the first round by the 72 win Chicago Bulls.

He also played in the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, scoring 10 points in 14 minutes.

In the 1997–98 season, Hardaway averaged 18.9 points and 8.3 assist per game, and was selected to play in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game.

The Heat won 55 games and won the Atlantic Division, but lost to the Knicks in 5 games in the first round of the playoffs.

In the lockout shortened 1998–99 season, he averaged 17.4 points a game with 7.3 assists, and Miami won the Atlantic Division again but could once again not defeat the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs despite having home court advantage and the Knicks being the 8th seed in the playoffs.

Hardaway's production slipped in the 1999–2000 season, with Alonzo Mourning and Jamal Mashburn carrying more of the offensive load.

Hardaway averaged 13.4 points with 7.4 assists a game, but shot a personal best .367 percent from beyond the three-point arc. After playing just 52 games, Hardaway was further limited in the playoffs, as Miami defeated the Detroit Pistons but once again fell to New York in 7 games.

Hardaway won a gold medal with the United States national basketball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

He was known for his crossover dribble which was dubbed the "UTEP two-step" by television analysts.

In 2022 Hardaway was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

He is the father of current NBA player Tim Hardaway Jr..

That summer, Hardaway and Mourning won a gold medal playing for the U.S.A. men's basketball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Before the 2000–01 season Mourning would be diagnosed with a rare kidney disease, and would be sidelined for much of the season.