Tim Hardaway Jr. should change his jersey number

The game ends when one compares the earnings. Hardaway Sr. made $46 million and Junior has made $154 million. It is arguable, that Tim Hardaway Jr. is playing bad so far this season because he wants his name to honor his father’s. There is really no other reason why his play is so poor.

Hardaway’s injury history

Could it be his age? or injury history? He has had lingering knee, ankle and back injuries in the last three years. The bulk of missed games since the 2021-22 season was when he missed 40 games for a fractured left foot. He hasn’t missed more than 11 games in the last four seasons.

Hardaway’s superpower turned kryptonite

In an NBA.com article on his signing, Hardaway Jr. commented that seeing his father’s jersey gave him inspiration to play well against Miami. It was “like a superpower.” Now it appears that the logic he believed when he signed may not apply: “If I played so well against the Heat as an opponent, I should play equally as good if not better.”

Gus Turner wrote in Complex magazine in 2013 about “athlete sons who could never get out of their father’s shadows.” He lists sons such as (Kellen Winslow II, Pete Rose Jr., Chris and Matt Simms, Marcus and Jeffrey Jordan) that did respectable things in the sport. They never “were mentioned in the same breath as their father’s.”

I could picture a raggedy, unhoused person appear at the Kaseya Center and warn Hardaway Jr. that unretiring his father’s jersey was a mistake. As Hardaway Jr. ignored the man, a lightning bolt boomed and brought forth rain in the Downtown area.

Perhaps Hardaway Jr. should quietly ask for the Heat to retire his father’s jersey again. He can get a new jersey number assigned to him. He certainly has distinguished himself in his playing career to earn that right to admit his mistake. Who could fault a son for wanting to impress/emulate his father, get his praise?