| | Associated Press
LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Upset at being the only unsigned Olympian
and growing ever more impatient, Tim Hardaway now says there's a
50-50 chance he'll leave the Miami Heat and play elsewhere next
season.
The Indiana Pacers wasted no time Monday seeing if Hardaway was
bluffing, placing a call to his agent.
| |  Tim Hardaway"> | |
| Hardaway |
"I'm dead serious. I'll go play for a contending team like the
Pacers," Hardaway said. "I'll go somewhere where they appreciate
me. I think (Indiana coach) Isiah (Thomas) appreciates me, and
right now I'm getting no love from the Miami Heat."
Hardaway, an unrestricted free agent, is seeking a three-year
contract from the Heat. But he says he will consider signing a
one-year deal with Indiana for the midlevel salary cap exception of
$2.5 million.
The Heat can pay him much more, but Miami president Pat Riley
and Hardaway's agent, Henry Thomas, have made little progress
toward an agreement. With three months having passed since the Heat
was eliminated from the playoffs, Hardaway has lost his patience.
"I deserve a lot more respect than I'm getting," Hardaway
said. "I took less money to stay there. (Riley) said he'd take
care of me, and it hasn't happened yet. I want to be there, but
I've got to look out for Tim Hardaway and Tim Hardaway's family."
Donnie Walsh, president of the Pacers, placed a call to Thomas
after hearing of Hardaway's dissatisfaction over the weekend.
Indiana plans to move Jalen Rose to the point-guard position after
losing Mark Jackson to Toronto on the free-agent market, but the
opportunity to sign Hardaway could alter those plans.
"I'm looking into it to see if he's for real," Walsh said.
"I'm sure there's a place for Tim Hardaway somewhere."
Hardaway also said he would consider signing with the Chicago
Bulls, who have enough cap room to outbid the Pacers. Hardaway is
from Chicago and played for Bulls coach Tim Floyd at Texas-El Paso.
Riley has made major changes to the Miami roster this summer,
acquiring Eddie Jones and Anthony Mason from Charlotte and agreeing
in principle on a three-team trade that will bring Portland free
agent Brian Grant to Miami.
The Grant deal is expected to be finalized Wednesday, which will
presumably allow the Heat to turn their attention to Hardaway.
"I'm not on that team, so I'm not going to talk about the moves
they made," Hardaway said.
An 11-year veteran and five-time All-Star, Hardaway has been
slowed by injuries the past two seasons. A deep bruise in his left
foot limited his movement in the playoffs last June when Miami lost
to the New York Knicks in seven games, but Hardaway says everything
has healed.
Miami general manager Randy Pfund was expected to fly to Hawaii
later this week to meet with Hardaway and watch him scrimmage, but
those plans have changed, a Heat spokesman said.
The Olympic team will play exhibition games Thursday against
Canada and Saturday against the U.S. Select Team.
Alonzo Mourning has been working out with Hardaway all summer
and has been in contact with Riley regarding the Hardaway
situation.
"Going into this, he should have been signed. But it's like
this: This is a cold, unpredictable business," Mourning said.
"I know Timmy's going to be taken care of because there's a
certain level of loyalty with our organization, unlike other
organizations that I won't necessarily name," Mourning said,
making a veiled reference to the rival New York Knicks. "We take
care of our own, and I know they're going to take care of Tim."
Mourning and Hardaway took it upon themselves to run wind
sprints Sunday after a spirited practice, and Hardaway's teammates
on the Olympic team said they had noticed that he had arrived in
training camp in much better shape than he did last summer when the
team qualified for the Olympics at a tournament in Puerto Rico.
Hearing Hardaway gripe about his status, Gary Payton told him
he'd be welcome in Seattle and Shareef Abdur-Rahim said he could
always come to Vancouver. Payton and Abdur-Rahim laughed as they
made their pitches, but Hardaway wasn't smiling back.
"To keep him quiet for this long has been a major
accomplishment, but he feels he has things he needs to say,"
Thomas said. "Some of those feelings are coming out now."
| |
|
