Tim Hardaway Jr earned a massive contract from the New York Knicks last summer, but he almost walked away from the game entirely before doing so.
In an interview with Barbara Barker of Newsday that ran on Monday, the Knicks guard opened up about how he nearly quit basketball following a particularly rough night while on assignment in the G League in 2015-16.
“I was second-guessing myself at the time, thinking about if I really wanted to play,” Hardaway was quoted as saying. “It was a dark period.”
Hardaway was with the Atlanta Hawks at the time, and his poor play early in the season got him demoted to the G League, where he spent five total games between the Canton Charge and the Austin Spurs. The night in question was Hardaway’s G League debut, a game where he shot poorly and his team lost. The former All-Rookie First Teamer also spoke about getting a postgame meal at McDonald’s before a five-hour bus ride back home through the snow.
“It was a rude awakening and humbling,” the 26-year-old continued. “I have the utmost respect for the guys in the G League, because they are battling and trying to make it where you are. If they sense blood or fear in your eyes, they are going to try to take it.”
Hardaway eventually worked his way back to the Hawks and then back into head coach Mike Budenholzer’s rotation. A strong 2016-17 season where he averaged 14.5 points per game earned him a four-year, $71 million offer sheet last summer from the Knicks, the team he began his NBA career with. The Hawks decided not to match, and Hardaway is now a foundational player for the Knicks after putting up a career-high 17.5 points per game in 2017-18.
It’s probably safe to say that Hardaway is glad that he didn’t call it quits two-and-a-half years ago, as even executives for the Knicks were reportedly stunned by the money that he wound up getting.
