RETIRED from the National Basketball Association for more than a decade now, legendary guard Tim Hardaway continues to give out an assist, sharing his knowledge honed by being a multiple All-Star player and one of the exciting and innovative point guards in league history.
Part of the conduct of this year’s edition of NBA 3X Philippines, which was held at the weekend, Mr. Hardaway said teaching the game of basketball, particularly from a point guard perspective, is something he is very active at doing since retiring.
And it is not only to his son, Tim Jr. who now plays for the New York Knicks, that he shares what he knows but also to others who are willing to learn and improve their craft.
“As you all I know I have a son, Tim Jr., who now plays for the New York Knicks and I can understand the young basketball players today and I kinda understand their mentality and what they are trying to work on,” said Mr. Hardaway at the media meet and greet session for him hosted by AXA Philippines and the NBA last week as part of NBA 3X Philippines 2018.
“I’m not too tall and I can relate to point guards and I just try to teach them how to run a team, how to get everybody involved. I try to install in them that they are the quarterback of the team and you have to run a team like it’s your team. You are a coach out there. You have to give confidence to them, to go out there against anybody, make plays on both ends and that’s what point guards should do,” added Mr. Hardaway, who had stops with Golden State, Miami, Dallas, Denver, and Indiana in 15 illustrious years in the NBA.
But the “T” in the fabled “Run TMC” in Golden State in the early 1990s, along with Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin, as well as a key cog in the tough Miami teams later in the decade, said there are many challenges in coaching players today but something he is not deterred by, seeing how the sport can change one’s life for the good the way it did for him.
“The players don’t have the mentality that we had when we were growing up. You have social media now and they get to stay in the house. We never stayed in the house. We were always outside doing something — riding a bike, walking somewhere, playing basketball, baseball, football or something. We were outside doing something. These days they are in social media than playing basketball and you have to find ways to keep them interested and focused on improving their game,” he said.
“Coaching these guys are tough and difficult , so you have to know how to push the right buttons and when to back off too,” added Mr. Hardaway, who also lauded the conduct of the NBA 3X Philippines as another platform to develop the skills of players.
The NBA 3X Philippines, the league’s premier 3-on-3 tournament, at the weekend was the eight straight that it has been staged in the country.
Presented by AXA Philippines, apart from Mr. Hardaway the event was also graced by NBA champion Brian Scalabrine. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
