Tim Hardaway — who played for the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat during his time in the NBA among other teams — was one of the top scorers at the point guard position in the 1990s. He averaged 15-plus points per contest in eight seasons of his pro career, and he scored a career-high 23.4 points as a Warrior during the 1991-92 campaign.
Hardaway seems to believe that he would be even more of a dominant scorer if he played in the current NBA. He likened himself to another former Warrior — Stephen Curry — and argued that he would average 40 points per game in today’s game.
Tim Hardaway says he’d average 40 PPG in today’s NBA:
“I'm like Steph Curry.”
(via The Mark Jackson Show, h/t @ballnetwork) pic.twitter.com/A6UGkOls7Z
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) November 29, 2024
The fact that Hardaway compared himself to Curry might seem odd at first glance because the former was a career 35.5 percent 3-point shooter, and the latter is the best 3-point shooter the NBA has ever seen. Hardaway also never converted more than 38.5 percent of his shots from deep in a single season of his career, a mark that’s lower than Curry’s career average from deep.
But the two certainly share similarities in their style of play. Namely, both players are highly regarded for their chops as ball-handlers. Hardaway had a killer crossover dribble when he was torching defenses in the league, and Curry has one of the tightest handles of any player in the NBA right now.
Both Hardaway and Curry are also talented facilitators. Starting with the former, he averaged double digits in assists per game twice in the early stages of his pro career. In the 1992-93 campaign, he dished out a career-high 10.6 assists per game compared to 3.3 turnovers.
Curry has yet to average 10-plus assists per game since he joined the NBA, but he’s still averaging 6.4 dimes per game for his pro career. He’s also Golden State’s all-time franchise leader in total assists.
While folks will never be able to witness Hardaway compete in the modern NBA, it might be safe to assume that he would torch defenses in today’s era as well, even if he might not average 40-plus points per contest. Wilt Chamberlain is the lone player in the history of the league who’s averaged 40.0 points per contest or more.
