Tim Hardaway didn’t want to answer the phone. He knew it was the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Hardaway feared the call would go as the previous ones did – with an apology that he wasn’t going to be enshrined. This time it was different, as Hardaway learned he received enough votes to be a part of the 2022 Hall of Fame class. Hardaway will join Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond to complete the Run TMC trio's inclusion into the Hall of Fame.
Hardaway joined 95.7 The Game’s “Steiny & Guru” Monday to discuss his wide range of emotions he felt the day of the phone call and more. He also said Mullin and Richmond will be in Springfield in September to induct him. Check out the full interview above.
“I was shaking and I really didn’t wanna answer the phone, to tell you the truth, I was just that scared,” Hardaway told hosts Matt Steinmetz and Daryle “The Guru” Johnson. “They got to it real quick. He said, ‘I got some better news for you this morning than I normally have.’”
Hardaway said his entire family was overcome with the announcement.
“We was just crying,” Hardaway said. “Everybody was just crying. It was a joyous day.”
Well, almost everybody in his family was crying. Hardaway said his son, 29-year-old Dallas Mavericks guard Tim Jr., didn’t seem in awe of the accomplishment.
“I don’t think my son really understands,” Hardaway said. “He understands, but he was like, ‘I’m very happy for you dad.’ He wasn’t as cheerful or whatever as I thought. I think when we all go down to Springfield, Mass., and I’m giving my speech and we walk through the Hall of Fame and just see the Hall of Fame, I think that he will be overjoyed and really understand what this really means.”
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Hardaway spent 1989-96 with the Warriors, making three All-Star teams, before getting traded to the Miami Heat. In all, he averaged 17.7 points and 8.2 assists per game throughout his 13-year NBA career. This marked his 15th year of Hall of Fame eligibility and seventh as a finalist. He was recognized Saturday as part of Final Four festivities in New Orleans.
Hardaway has previously acknowledged that his homophobic 2007 comments on Dan Le Batard’s radio show were keeping him out of the Hall of Fame. Hardaway has since tried to make an effort to reach out to the LGBTQ community, reportedly through grassroots legislation efforts in Florida and also advocating in Texas.
“That was the reason it took a little longer (to get enshrined),” Hardaway said. “I’m not afraid to talk about it. I made a big mistake. Today, I I think about what I said, every day. Every morning when I’m working out I think about it and I take a moment and I say to myself, ‘That was some of the most idiotic, stupidest things you could’ve said.’ I’m not like that and I wanted to make it right.”
