Hardaway credits Hawks for getting his career on the right path

ATLANTA – For Tim Hardaway Jr., the foundation that set his NBA career spiraling in the right direction started with the Atlanta Hawks.

After playing two ho-hum seasons with the New York Knicks in 2013-15, Hardaway was subsequently traded to the Hawks. And it was with the Hawks’ franchise where his career completely took off.

“This is the place that molded me into being a professional, true professional, knowing the ins and outs in the game of basketball, the NBA, the culture of the NBA, how you can prolong your career in the NBA and not just be a journeyman,” Hardaway told Mavs.com. “That was the help with (Hawks assistant coach) Charles Lee, (Hawks head coach) Mike Budenholzer, a lot of guys, (Hawks assistant coach) Kenny Atkinson.

“The list goes on and on and on. It was a surreal moment, a great moment and a teaching moment and I’m happy that I overcame it.”

What the Hawks’ coaching staff did with Hardaway at that time was basically almost take him back to the basic of basketball. Theye were so invested in Hardaway that he even had two stints in the G League with the Canton Charge and Austin Spurs.

“They just told me the first 25 games I’m not playing and we’re going to mold you into the player that we want you to become for the Atlanta Hawks,” Hardaway said. “It was from then on a couple of stints in the G League.

“It was a surreal humbling experience and an experience I was grateful for.”

At the time, Hardaway really didn’t think he needed time in the G League to get to where he wanted to go in the NBA. But the Hawks’ brass thought otherwise.

“It wasn’t obviously a goal of mine to go to the G League,” Hardaway said. “But at the same time when you go down there you actually see a lot of great talent, a lot of guys that are trying to find their way in the league, and you respect it when you go down there.

“It’s really humbling just to go down there and see what those guys do travel-wise, and where they’re staying. At the time when I was going there — I don’t know how it is now (in the G League) – driving two, three, four, five hours just to get to a place to go play instead of us chartering or flying private.”

Now in his fifth season with the Mavs, Hardaway looks back on those days in the G League and can appreciate how that helped him become the sharpshooter that he is today.

“My first (G League) stint was in Canton,” he said. “I did OK, but I didn’t really shoot the ball well, and then I went to the Austin Spurs at the time just because they kind of ran some of the same actions and systems that we had when we were here (in Atlanta).

“And Budenholzer coming from (Spurs coach Gregg) Popovich, you kind of got an idea of how culturally they were as a franchise and how they moved. I felt good, I felt more confident, and it felt good. In my first game down there with Austin, it was at AT&T Center, where the San Antonio Spurs were playing, so I kind of felt like — even though I’m in the G League — I’m at home in an NBA arena, and it felt good and I felt comfortable.”

Although he already had two years of experience in the NBA, Hardaway just wanted to fit in with his G League teammates.

“Like I said, I was grateful for it,” he said. “Those guys treated me as an equal to them. I didn’t want no high standards or anything.

“I was down there to work and get better and hoop. That was an opportunity for me to hoop and that’s what I love to do.

And when he finally got back to the NBA – for good – Hardaway said: “I looked at it more so of just having my confidence back and me knowing that I can play with these guys at a very, very high level on both ends of the floor. And I just took it and ran with it.”

Did he ever.

With his first of three made three-pointers during Friday’s 148-143 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, Hardaway became just the 40^th player in NBA history with at least 1600 made three-pointers.

“I’m just over here breaking records,” Hardaway said. “That’s crazy. I’m going up the ladder.

“I’m happy to be able to do it mostly in a gym that I played in for a couple of years. It’s a great accomplishment. It’s always been a goal of mine to be in the top tier three-point shooters in this league ever since I was in high school, so I’m happy that I’m able to accomplish that and have an opportunity to keep on going higher.”

SNYDER ROOTING FOR EXUM: Atlanta Hawks coach Quin Snyder is very familiar with Mavericks guard Dante Exum and the injuries he has battled over the years.

When Snyder became the coach of the Utah Jazz on June 6, 2014, 20 days later the Jazz made Exum the No. 5 overall pick of the NBA Draft. Unfortunately for Exum, a slew of injuries prevented him from reaching his full potential with the Jazz.

Exum played for the Jazz from 2014-19 and for the Cleveland Cavaliers before going overseas to play for FC Barcelona (2021-22) and Partizan Belgrade (2022-23), and then signing with the Mavs last summer.

“People forget when he was drafted he had a number of injuries that were really difficult, and he was able to battle through that,” Snyder said. “And then what he did going to Barcelona, going to Partizan and just continuing to get better.

“The fortitude and the toughness that he’s shown going through those situations, it’s not at all surprising to me that he’s having the success he’s having right now, and I’m very confident it will continue, and then he’ll continue to improve as a player.”

Exum is averaging 9.5 points in 19.5 mutes this season for the Mavs. And when Snyder was discussing Exum, he sounded like a proud papa, adding that he’s proud of his growth.

“He’s worked,” Snyder said. “A lot of times you weren’t able to see that because he was working through an ACL, working through a shoulder and some things that he had to really battle through that frankly for a lot of players, the fact that they came consecutively, he worked so hard to get healthy, and then he’d have something else. It was just bad luck.

“I’m just really happy for him and the season that he’s having and what he’s done and the way that he’s dug in and the way his path has taken him. The fact that he’s doing what he’s doing right now, like I said, is not surprising. I always wish him well and root for him.”

DONCIC, YOUNG JOINED AT THE HIP: Mavs point guard Luka Doncic and Atlanta Hawks point guard Trae Young will forever be joined at the hip. That’s because the two players were traded for each other on the day of the 2018 NBA Draft.

Doncic was the third overall pick of the ’18 draft by the Hawks, while Young was the fifth overall pick of the ’18 draft by the Mavs. A short time later, both players were traded for each other, and the rest is history.

“They’re both special players,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “As far as their productivity within the league, whether it be their impact in assists, scoring, different things that they’re both capable of doing, their teams, the success — even though we’re not having the kind of success we want right now — both of these guys are capable of impacting the game in a lot of different ways on the offensive end and they’re both unique.

“The fact that they came out in the same draft, that’s beyond me. They’re both elite players.”

MAVS-WARRIORS GAME RESCHEDULED: The Jan. 19 game the Mavs were scheduled to play against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco has been rescheduled by the NBA.

That game will now be played on April 2 in San Francisco at 9 p.m. Dallas time.

Also, the April 2 game the Warriors were slated to play in Dallas against the Mavs has been moved to April 5 at 7:30 p.m. at American Airlines Center. Plus, the April 5 game in Dallas between the Mavs and Atlanta Hawks will now be played on April 4 at 7:30 p.m. at AAC.

The re-scheduling of the schedule resulted when the Jan. 19 game between the Mavs and Golden State was postponed after Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojevic suddenly died of a heart attack on Jan. 17.

BRIEFLY: Quin Snyder coached the Jazz from 2014-22, and his final game for Utah came against the Mavs. That occurred in the first round of the 2022 playoffs when the Mavs won that series in six games, and Snyder ultimately resigned on June 5, 2022. . .Luka Doncic was doused with a lot of celebratory water when he entered the Mavs’ locker room following his franchise-record 73-point game against the Hawks on Friday. “It was water,” Doncic said. “And then Tim (Hardaway Jr.) threw the ice stuff at me, so I almost had a heart attack.”. . . Friday was the four-year anniversary of the day former Los Angeles Lakers icon, Kobe Bryant, and eight others – including Bryant’s 13-year old daughter, Gianna — were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif. “We all love Kobe, man,” Mavs point guard Luka Doncic said. “It was a big tragedy. I can’t believe it’s been four years already. It’s special to (scored 73 points Friday) on the same day. Obviously, I wish he was here.” The Lakers will honor Bryant with a statue outside of Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 8 . . . Since the 1997-98 season, there have been only three games where a player made at least 16 field goals in a half. Kobe Bryant made 18 field goals in the second half of a game against Toronto on Jan. 22, 2006. Brandon Jennings connected on 17 field goals in the second half of a game against Golden State on Nov. 14, 2009. And the 16 field goals Luka Doncic made during the first half of Friday’s contest against Atlanta.

X: @DwainPrice