| | Tim Hardaway will agree to a one-year contract with the Miami Heat sometime this week. Now Pat Riley can really plot to finally recapture the East for the first time in seven years.
|  | | If this is the Hardaway we see in the playoffs, the Heat aren't likely to win the title. |
Hardaway owns the Reggie Miller chair for these Olympics as the only unsigned member of the U.S. men's team. Like Miller, who in 1996 carried on a one-way verbal war with the Pacers' Donnie Walsh, Hardaway hasn't been happy and he'll let anyone and everyone know about it.
Last week, Hardaway carped about his status. He had tried to use those same Pacers as a foil to goose the Heat into action. Unfortunately for him, wise head Walsh didn't go for it.
"It amazes me, all the stuff I've done for that team, and we're talking about loyalty, and I'm not signed yet,'" Hardaway said. "I'm trying to figure that out right now. It upset me, very much so. But I've got to keep my cool. I understand it's a business, but it's sad, very sad."
Will a $12 million one-shot deal make the 34-year-old point guard happy? South Florida fans better hope so, for Hardaway's attitude as much as his physical well-being will determine whether the Heat have a real chance to win Riley his fifth title and first since 1988 with the Lakers. And that's despite the additions of Eddie Jones, Anthony Mason and Brian Grant.
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It makes me ache because he doesn't have the same bounce. You can see him laboring to play the game he loves. ” |
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— Doug Collins on Hardaway |
One Heat insider put it this way: "Look, we all know that basically, Timmy is done. He drags his right leg every time he runs. Everyone can see that. But we also know that Timmy has more heart than almost anyone in the league. If he can get over this money thing and comes to camp in the right frame of mind, he can be the difference with this team."
Riley's banking on that. Hardaway won't have to play every night and he won't have to play long minutes to push the Heat toward a chance at a title. It's the quality of his work, the spirit he brings to the game.
"Timmy's got a very infectious personality," the Heat insider said. "If he's upbeat and ready to go, I can tell you that attitude will go a long way with this team.
"The other thing that's important is that we know we can stop anybody in the league. We'll be the best defensive team. That's where our talent and our commitment lie, but we've got to score a little bit and Timmy's the guy who will get us some offense -- not by doing it all himself at this stage of his career, but by knowing how to get it done with his teammates."
Keep in mind, Hardaway is coming off his worst season in 10 in the NBA.
He missed a career-worst 30 games.
He averaged only 13.4 points, a full six under his career average.
He shot a career low .386 from the field,
And he didn't fool anyone along the way.
"It makes me ache because he doesn't have the same bounce," NBC's Doug Collins said. "You can see him laboring to play the game he loves."
And the Suns' Penny Hardaway, a man who knows a thing or two about losing a step, said, "Tim's still a good player, but he's dragging his leg. Before, he was so good coming full-speed with his crossover. He doesn't have that quickness now. The offense is so much quicker with Anthony Carter in the game."
But like so many of the game's truly fierce competitors, Hardaway is unyielding. "Three is still the number," he said recently when asked how many more years in the league he wants.
Chances are not good Hardaway will get that third year. There's even doubt he can get a second season on a right knee that has gone bone-on-bone. Riley knows that, but he also knows he can't win the big games with young Carter playing the bulk of the minutes. Hardaway has to be the man in the showdown battles and he has to hold together for the playoffs.
"Is he going to be the All-NBA player he was when he averaged 20 points and was blowing by people? I don't think so," Riley said in a candid moment last spring. "But I think he will get to another level as the importance of the games begin to rise. I'm not frustrated with Tim. He's a warrior. I'm confident he will get his game back to
a very high level."
That's how it will have to be this season.
Meanwhile, Hardaway is hardly the only player whose attitude will go a long way toward determining the success of failure of his team.
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| Rose |
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| Iverson |
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| Ewing |
For openers, there's Patrick Ewing. The Knicks are not likely to move him now and if Ewing sulks through the season, the feeding frenzy by the New York media circus will be frightening. The Knicks' big hope: In wanting to extend his career, Ewing will use the season to showcase his declining game.
Then there's Allen Iverson. The kid isn't going to win this war with Larry Brown because 76ers owner Pat Croce is a bright, perceptive man and backs his coach. If peer pressure from anxious teammates and the persistence of Brown can bring Iverson into the fold, then Philadelphia is a contender.
Finally, there is Jalen Rose. As a point guard he must continue to look for his own shot while keeping Reggie Miller happy and Austin Croshere productive. Meanwhile, Isiah Thomas will be shuffling in his young guys and they will look to their point guard for leadership. This is a very difficult task for a guy adjusting full time to the point. On Rose's shoulders rests the fate of the Pacers.
Jeffrey Denberg, who covers the NBA for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. | |
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