When the New York Knicks offered Tim Hardaway Jr. a four-year, $71 million deal last week, it was met with substantial surprise around the league. Even Hardaway himself admitted surprise during his introductory press conference on Monday, saying there’s added pressure that comes with such a mammoth deal.
“Yes, obviously there’s pressure, but you gotta embrace it,” Hardaway told reporters. “You gotta take that to heart. I’m ready to do whatever I have to do to help this team succeed as a ballplayer on and off the court.”
As fate would have it, the Knicks did tell Hardaway exactly what he needs to do to help the team and the list was substantial — as in literally everything.
“They loved how I competed on both ends of the floor, they saw the energy I gave and it was a great feeling just to hear all of that,” Hardaway said via ESPN. “[But] they said straight up you have to obviously improve a lot more on defense and improve a lot more on the offensive end. So you can never settle.”
Hardaway, who was very close with Carmelo Anthony during his first stint with Knicks, also said he’d like for the superstar to remain in New York, but would understand if Anthony had to do what he felt was best for his family and take off for another team.
