The Mavericks have a few unanswered questions after 14 games.
But Tim Hardaway Jr.’s acceptance of the sixth-man role is not one of them.
He has made it clear that the full-time job of coming off the bench is one in which he can prosper.
The 11-year veteran swingman has been nothing short of sensational as the anchor for not only the second unit but also when he finds himself on the floor with Luka Dončić and/or Kyrie Irving, which is often.
In life, you never know what fate is going to throw your way. In the first 10 years of his career, Hardaway felt he was a hybrid. And, indeed, he had started and come off the bench in a virtual equal number of games (333 starts, 328 as a reserve).
This year, he’s been the sixth man. Period. And on Tuesday, Hardaway explained a little about his thinking in regard to his role.
He thought back to other notable sixth men, including Jamal Crawford, who was a three-time winner of the NBA’s sixth-man of the year award and is up for induction into the hall of fame this year.
“J-Cross, being a guy that went to Michigan, I’ve definitely watched and seen his career unfold,” said Hardaway, a proud Wolverine. “It’s magical. He (took) that role very serious.
“I said before, first and foremost, in order for you to know that you’re going in that role, you have to embrace it and accept it. That’s what he did. That’s what Lou-Will (Williams) did. That’s what J.R. Smith did. And that’s what I’m trying to do is have that same mentality.”
So far, the results could not be much better.
Hardaway is averaging 18.2 points per game and hitting 40.5 percent of his three-point shots. That’s on pace to be his career high from beyond the arc, topping the 39.8 percent he hit in 2019-20.
And it’s not like he’s cherry-picking from long range. He’s averaging nine attempts per game (51-of-126).
And the Mavericks would be hard-pressed to be 9-5 without Hardaway’s contributions.
“Timmy, he has the opportunity to go out there and shoot nine-plus threes a night,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s been focused. He’s doing a great job not just with those guys off the bench but the starters, too.”
Despite two losses in a row for the first time this season, the Mavericks still have cobbled together a nice start to the season, which has had more than its share of road games (10 of the first 16, including both Los Angeles teams starting Wednesday at the Lakers.
But Hardaway is one of the Mavericks who knows it’s OK to look realistically at where they are right now.
Asked if there was a certain area that needed attention, he said:
“Moreso defense. Second defense. Third transition defense. And fourth, boxing out and getting stops and running.”
So we’ll take that to mean that when the Mavericks play acceptable defense, they are a difficult team to beat.
That will be tested by the Lakers, who have caught fire of late with five victories in six games.
And, of course, going against LeBron James is always something that players get up for.
“Anytime you’re going against one of the greatest of all time, how can you not wake up for that,” Hardaway said. “He has a great group of guys around him right now that are playing really hard, very well and competing on both ends. We got to match their intensity. We know it’s going to be a dogfight. We got to be ready for it.”
Hardaway said that he is like just about everyone else in that he marvels at the fact that James, who turns 39 on Dec. 30, is averaging 26.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game while shooting 58.6 percent from the field.
“Yeah, he does an amazing job,” Hardaway said. “Everybody knows the stories of him taking care of his body in the offseason and making sure he’s a true professional on and off the floor. He takes his work serious. And it shows.”
So does Hardaway. And it’s showing with his early role as a sixth-man-of-the-year contender.
Probably the frontrunner, in fact.
X: @ESefko
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