When the Pistons acquired Tim Hardaway Jr. from the Mavericks this past summer, the trade left several questions being raised by the Detroit faithful. Which was somewhat understandable given they had to part ways with Quentin Grimes, a young wing with a theoretical upside. However, while the young wing had shown glimpses of his potential, he had struggled with injuries. The Pistons were in need of a steady shooting presence, to provide space for their young backcourt. Hardaway Jr. seemed to be really the direct solution for Detroit’s problems, as he played 70+ games in four of his last five seasons and brought the shooting element with him.

The veteran sharpshooter has entered his 13th season in the league with his new team, and his dad, Tim Hardaway Sr., recalls the time when he was just a kid: “When he started playing basketball as a little kid, if you said you could see your son making the NBA, you’re a lie,” he affirms. It all requires much more than just the love of the game to make it in the NBA.

He added, “It takes hard work, it takes dedication, he got to put in the work, he got to put in the dedication, he got to put in the hours, he got to put in the time, and he got to put in all that stuff like I did to take him to that next level,” talking about the sacrifices one has to make to be able to achieve their dream. Tim Hardaway Sr. is one of the very few people, in fact, who’d know all about the NBA dream, as he is a former hoopster as well. Let’s know more about the earlier NBA player from the Hardaway household!

Who is Tim Hardaway Jr.’s father who made it to the NBA Hall of Fame?

A point guard who is widely known for his killer crossover moves, Tim Hardaway Sr. is the father of Detroit star Hardaway Jr. He is a former NBA player and played for the likes of the Warriors, Heat, Nuggets, Pacers, and even for his son’s former team the Mavericks. That’s quite the résumé, isn’t it? He was a 5-time All-Star and 5-time All-NBA Team member as well. Tim Hardaway Sr. also represented Team USA at the 2000 Summer Olympics in which they won the Gold medal in Sydney.

After finishing his playing career, Tim Hardaway Sr. turned to coaching and was an assistant on the Pistons’ coaching staff from 2014 to 2018. Later, in 2022, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “Words can’t describe…I’m still speechless,“ he said during his Enshrinement ceremony, as he couldn’t gather enough words for the grand achievement of a lifetime.

Is Hardaway Jr. a better shooter than his father? A sneak peek into the record books

Scrolling through his X feed, Tim Hardaway Jr. got to know how close he was to surpassing his father Hardaway Sr. This made him pause and reminisce about the days when he was just a kid playing ball with his friends. As he told CBS Sports, “Me as a kid in middle school, high school, we’re playing HORSE, shooting 3s, shooting 3s off the glass, shooting trick shots all the time. Me beating him a couple of times. I mean, it just goes back to all those childhood-type memories.” Well, the moment of surpassing his father came soon.

While playing against the Nuggets on 18th December 2023, in the second quarter, Hardaway Jr. scored his 1,543rd three-pointer, overtaking his father’s 1,542 long-range shots made over his career. Although his father wasn’t in attendance that night, he was proud of his son’s achievement. “From a dad perspective, watching him do all this, I love it,“ he took a moment to appreciate the feat.

However, this raises an interesting question: Who is the better shooter, father or son?

Well, when asked, neither of the two backed down! Hardaway Sr. said, “Yeah, no question I’d win. Because I’d get to talking smack. And I’d be saying a lot of other things that I can’t say. But I’d be talking smack, getting him off his game.”

On the other hand, his son begged to differ, saying, “I would win, of course, I would win,” although he did say that back in the day his dad had a chance, but not today!