SHOCKING:As a Miami Heat legendary figure out for the…
Miami Heat Legend Tim Hardaway Opens Up On Long Road To Hall Of Fame: ‘I’m Still Speechless’
Five-time All-Star point guard Tim Hardaway Sr. waited a little longer than expected, but he finally reached his objective of reaching the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.Hardaway —one of the best players of his generation and a crossover dribble great — was finally elected to the Hall of Fame in 2022 after a long road of rejection. In fact, Hardaway was turned down a total of five times before he was finally enshrined.While speaking during a one-on-one interview at NBA All-Star weekend in Indianapolis, the Miami Heat and Golden State Warriors legend opened up on the long struggle of making it to the Hall of Fame and how much it meant to him to finally make it in after being eligible for nearly 15 years prior to induction.
After being rejected four, five or six times, you’re coming up on your last time,” said Hardaway. “And when the call is coming through because it says Hall of Fame on your phone I didn’t want to answer the phone. Because I didn’t want to take another rejection. The same guy always calls. I get really emotional when I tell this story because it’s tough. He would call and say, ‘Hey Tim, I’m sorry. You didn’t get enough votes.’ He had talked to me, tried to console me, we’d have five-to-seven minute conversations. It was cool on his part, I always thanked him for that.