Tim Hardaway appreciates greatness, which is why next weekend will stand as one of the most profound moments of his 56 years, when he will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Hardaway also appreciates when some choose to focus on gut instead of guts, which is why he embraced the opportunity this past week not only to talk about his former team, but also a member of that former team — Miami Heat point guard Kyle Lowry.
Twelve years ago, amid a contentious free-agency negotiation, Hardaway found himself not only having to defend with Heat president Pat Riley his elite skill level at point guard, but also his body type.
The compromise was a one-year, $12 million contract that had one-third of that salary tied to regular weigh-ins.
“To me,” Hardaway said at the time, “it’s a bunch of bs.”
So when Hardaway saw Riley pointedly note in June how Lowry had to report in better shape for his second Heat season, there was a sense not only of been-there, done-that, but also of empathy.
“I’m glad you asked that question,” Hardaway told the South Florida Sun Sentinel ahead of his trip to Springfield, Mass., for his Hall enshrinement. “And I’ve been asked that question at least 10 times this year by friends and by people and they said, ‘Pat put Kyle Lowry out there to dry’ or said something bad. I said, ‘No, he didn’t.’ I said, I’m going to tell you what Pat Riley said. Pat Riley is not saying he’s not in shape. Pat Riley’s saying that he needs to stop getting injured so he can play and help the team. And getting in shape prevents all the injuries.”
The weigh-for-pay wore on Hardaway. By the following season, he was gone from the Heat, for a free-agency deal with the Dallas Mavericks.
For Lowry, two seasons, including this impending one, remain on the three-year, $85 million free-agency contract signed a year ago, one without weight clauses.
“I want you to write this,” Hardaway said. “Kyle Lowry is not fat. He’s not fat and overweight. He wears these football pads under him to make him look like he’s bigger. He’s way slimmer than what you think he is. I’ve been telling folks that for the longest. And everybody’s like, ‘No, he’s overweight.’ No, the guy is not overweight. It’s that he needs to stay healthy to stay in shape.”
For Hardaway, it was a matter of putting his mouth where his money was.
“That’s the only way I get my money,” he said back in 2000 of grudgingly accepting the required weigh-ins. “If that’s the only way I get my money, I just got to sacrifice for a year and not eat.”
At the moment, many are eating up the social-media posts being offered by Lowry about his grueling offseason workouts. There clearly is a commitment there, even while there has yet to be a public response regarding Riley’s comments.
But even while standing by Lowry, and even while standing up for players who might not fit the prototypic NBA body type, Hardaway said with a laugh there is one aspect he is overwhelmingly in favor of when it comes to the 36-year-old veteran.
“He needs to stop falling,” Hardaway said with the high-pitched cackle that was ever-present during his Heat six-season tenure. “That’s why he’s getting hurt. And I’m going to say this, I love Kyle. Kyle Lowry, I love what he does out there on the court. I just wish he would stop flopping. I think keep that at a minimum.
“You keep falling on the floor, you keep falling on the floor, you keep falling on the floor, yes, you’re going to get injured, yes you’re going to get hurt, yes it’s going to keep you out of the lineup. I think that’s what’s really hurt him, flopping and falling all the time. Stop falling all the time.”
Hardaway paused, as if taking the same type of pause that Riley offered in regard to what has to happen next with Lowry.
“The Heat need you at point guard,” Hardaway said. “They don’t need you on the bench not playing. They need you to be on the court playing 100 percent at a high level, just like you did in Toronto. You can do it if you stop falling on the floor so much.”
