When it comes to being an NBA player, you got to have tough skin. The quicker you realise that the NBA is half game, half business, the better off you’ll be.
And sometimes business can come out of nowhere. You’re living life as a New York Knicks player and then your Twitter blows up telling you that you’ve been traded to the Atlanta Hawks. That’s what Tim Hardaway Jr experienced back in the summer, and as it turns out, he never got a reason for his move.
“Whatever Melo and myself talked about is obviously private. [But] whatever you guys heard, he expressed it,’’ said Hardaway, who said he was never given a reason for the deal.
“No, nothing. Just a call that said … I got a call from my agent first that broke the news to me. I was surprised. I was at Clyde Frazier’s. It was myself, Cleanthony Early, Langston Galloway, and some more of my friends. I was there for draft night, to see who we got — well, when I was part of the team, to see who we had. Then later on I didn’t know what was going to happen. It happened 30 seconds before they made the trade.’’
“I was surprised. But at the same time, it’s a business at the end of the day,’’ Hardaway said. “That’s always your goal, to stay with one team. But it never happens that way. I’m happy to still be a part of the NBA, still be a part of a team. I’m with a team that wants me, that needs me, and I’m going to do whatever I can to stay.“
How can they do that to a guy that was a good teammate and never whined about being on a garbage team?
But Tim, don’t sweat man. You’re actually good! You can get a starting spot on the Hawks if you truly work at it. It’s certainly possible man so don’t sweat. You’re on a better team.
