Basketball saved my life. The story of Tim Hardaway Sr.

A famous psychologist once wrote a story about how to make sweet lemonade from bitter lemon. Something similar happened in Hardaway’s life. They did not have great opportunities to get a world-class education and enter the US business elite. But the man had a good role model and a choice that had to be made every day. Every time you ask yourself: Where am I? Who am I with? What do I want?

Where am I: between two fires

“Basketball wasn’t my passion, I didn’t see it as my hobby. For me, basketball was a real haven.” – Tim Hardaway Sr.

Our hero’s thoughts for The Players`Tribune begin with these words. The future basketball player was born in 1966 in Chicago, the third most populous city in America. What does a big city mean in the modern world? Gangs and drugs. Young Hardaway had to make a choice every day: who was he with? Does he find his own way out of crime or with Chicago gangs? At that time it seemed illogical to the African-American, but it showed the character of our hero from childhood.

Also, two powerful criminal groups were operating in the area where Tim lived – El Runks and BGD. Their aim was, among other things, to recruit young men into their ranks.

“From childhood you learn to be in survival mode. Always ready. You learn to run to the bus stop so you don’t get in trouble.” – Tim Hardaway remembers his childhood.

Why did our hero make different choices compared to other people in similar situations? He had a good example from his father, Donald, a famous Chicago street basketball player. It was his father’s love of basketball that impressed Tim. The place in all of Chicago he lives near who gets the ball and goes to the safest place for him.

This is a large park in the south of the city. It was possible to walk in it and leave unnecessary thoughts at the entrance. And most importantly, playing basketball on the appropriate court: “I went to the park on my bike early in the morning. No one has ever been there. Yes, I didn’t need anyone. I got the ball and I dreamed that Isaiah Thomas was playing against me. Therefore, I had to be perfect to get under the ring.”

Who am I with: the old man in the garden

Gangs around, not the safest childhood, but the atmosphere of a big city with its charms. Was everything so bad? No, not all. Things were even worse. Our hero was obviously too young for basketball.

“Come on kiddo, get out of here. You can’t compete with “big dogs” – such words were heard by young Tim at his address when he came to play basketball with other people. It’s really motivating, don’t you think? But Hardaway was just pissed off. The man just realized he couldn’t take it and grow up, This is physiology. Being aware is our hero’s next daily choice.

So Tim quickly realized their “immorality” and made his “fuel” from them. How? Dribbling job. The man took the ball with him constantly and everywhere: do you need to go to the store? No problem, this can be done in dribbling by throwing the ball between the legs with each step.

Once at Hardaway’s business, such a trip was noticed by an old man who liked to relax in the courtyard of his house next to the park.

“Honey, I owe you a dollar if you dribble 7 blocks. If you miss the ball, you owe me a dollar,” he once called to Tim. Our hero did not always make more money than he lost. But the bet paid off and was reflected in his career as a professional basketball player.

What exactly is Tim Hardaway Sr famous for? “Two-step” dribbling. The crossover, where the ball is thrown between the legs, is Hardaway’s hallmark. Our hero spent 13 seasons in the NBA, was selected for the All-Star Game 5 times, and took part in the All-NBA teams 5 times at the end of the year. Olympic champion, second in the NBA after Oscar Robertson to score 5,000 points and 2,500 assists, pin 10 in Miami, is a member of the NBA Hall of Fame. But Tim Hardaway Sr. is known to the public primarily for his dribbling.

“There were many players in the league that I watched since I was a kid. Entertainment was important to me. He gave birth to my love of basketball. The way Hardaway Sr. played left a tangible impression on me. On my list of favorite childhood players,” said Steph Curry, commenting on our hero being inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.

“It changed the game. Allen Iverson comes to mind when it comes to crossover. But it all started with Tim and his Golden State transition,” said Jason Kidd.

But the old man’s encouragement and motivational bet helped Hardaway make basketball history. And the more our hero surmounted the obstacles on his way to the coveted dollar, the more he made his own choice to play with an orange ball every day, the more fatalistic that man’s cry seemed: “Go on, kiddo! Show them. I see you kiddo!”

What I want: to be human

What can make you cry? What about tears of joy? Probably many things can cause this. For example, the losing team and their fans always cry. Pain often causes a corresponding condition. But have you noticed why so few fans, for example, shed tears of joy over their team’s victory in the NBA Playoff Finals? But basketball players almost always cry? Not every joy can cause tears. Well-deserved joy, yes. The unexpected, when even hope is lost – also yes. These two extremes characterize humanity: the feeling of joy, manifested in tears, is their sincere manifestation.

Back to our hero. Such tears of joy, NBA Hall of Fame representative Hardaway Sr. And the message that Tim is on the list of the league’s premier basketball figures.

Our hero was overlooked 5 times in previous Hall of Fame membership decisions. The basketball player is helpless. And what did you expect? Another failure?

But isn’t our hero accustomed to failure? And how do you get used to it? But he is used to overcoming failures. Since childhood. When he avoided crime, he did not follow the simplest path – he went to the gangs near the house, every morning by bike to the park, to the basketball court, hung nets in the rings by himself, and was very unhappy when he lost. fictional Isaiah Thomas (best dribbling player of the 80s). And remember the bet with the old man. Or the small stature (183 cm) and the constant humiliation of the guys on the basketball court. And this is his conscious choice for every day: to make this world more humane, to make our world a better place.

“If you ask me, why am I remembered in such a special way? I’m having a hard time answering. When I sent every New Yorker home crying in ’97, 38 points in Game 7 with the Knicks, either with my crossover or with one of 7,000 assists. I don’t know, but if there’s one thing a South Chicago man can remember, it’s that he grew up to be a man.”

Vyacheslav Shevchenko