Hardaway Jr. gets dad's retired No. 10 in Heat return
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- Tim Hardaway Jr. was formally introduced by the Miami Heat on Wednesday at age 34, receiving his father Tim Hardaway Sr.'s retired No. 10 jersey with "Jr." appended after the surname on the back, per the team.
- Tim Hardaway Sr. initially told WQAM radio in Miami he wouldn't allow his retired number back into circulation, but reversed after family discussions — his son said "the first go-round was a personal decision, the second go-round was a family decision."
- Erik Spoelstra, now the Heat's head coach, once put Hardaway Jr. through workouts on the team practice court when he was a kid; Hardaway called him "a great person" to turn to for guidance going forward.
- Heat president Pat Riley, who coached the elder Hardaway in Miami, called handing over the jersey "really bizarre" and noted his own history with the family.
- Hardaway Jr. is coming off a career-best shooting season — 224 made 3-pointers at nearly 41% — and has appeared in 236 of a possible 246 regular-season games over the past three seasons.
- Hardaway Jr. said his role will be to "knock down shots" and create spacing for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, calling the signing "a no-brainer" — the Heat will be his sixth NBA team, and his first in the city where he grew up.
- The Miami Heat entered the offseason wanting a superstar and landed Giannis Antetokounmpo; the franchise, like the rest of the league, is waiting to hear where former Heat star LeBron James will play this coming season.
Why it matters: The Heat addressed two goals at once: adding a career-best shooter (224 threes at nearly 41%) to space the floor for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, and un-retiring a franchise icon's number for his hometown son. Hardaway Jr. has played 236 of 246 possible games the last three seasons, giving Miami both production and durability.
