Tim Hardaway Jr. was not thrilled about his dad’s recent comments criticizing Mavericks’ Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving and the duo’s lack of leadership in the team’s current state of affairs.
Dallas (37–42) has lost seven of its last 10 games and currently sits a half game behind the Thunder for the 10th and final play-in spot in the Western Conference. Tim Hardaway Sr., who was recently inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, appeared on Fox Sports 1’s The Carlton Show on Wednesday, saying that Dončić and Irving were not leaders and that the team is missing “a leader out there” and referenced that “Jalen Brunson was a leader.”
“A leader shows by example too, by playing defense,” Hardaway Sr. said on the show. “When he says something, he does it also, and thats what a leader is. And like I said, those two guys are not leaders, they're complimentary, dominant great basketball players. Great scorers.”
