Tim Hardaway Jr. is preparing to sit and watch the Mavericks’ first-round playoff series against Utah, which starts Saturday at noon.
Actually, sitting and watching is not at all accurate.
He won’t be playing. But he won’t be sitting a lot, either. He plans on doing a lot of standing. And running onto the court to cheer, console and coach his teammates.
“I’m going to be on the sideline yelling and screaming like I normally do and helping our guys on the defensive end in case we have any defensive breakdowns,” Hardaway said. “It’s great and should be fun.
“I know I can’t go out there and play. But I know I have a voice. And my voice is strong in this locker room. I know that for sure. So just being able to help the guys while they’re on the floor and helping out with coverages, I think that helps them a lot.”
Hardaway is nearly three months into rehabilitation from the fracture of a bone in his foot that required surgery. When he pulled up on Jan. 25 with 10 points in 10 minutes at Golden State, he knew something wasn’t right.
As you’d expect, the 6-6 swingman was bummed about the injury when it happened. But that despair lasted about as long as a double-overtime game.
“Once it actually happen, two or three hours later, I was like: when is the surgery,” Hardaway said. “I wanted to get it right now. I know it’s going to be a process. I know it’s going to be a road to recovery that I’ve never been on before. It’s your feet. It’s your foundation. So you can’t really mess with that.”
Until Luka Dončić’s left calf strain on Sunday, Hardaway’s injury was one of the most frequently inquired-about topics among fans.
Estimates for a recovery from a fractured fifth metatarsal run from three months to much, much longer.
Hardaway, like fans, was wondering if there might be a shot at returning in the playoffs.
That won’t happen. But Hardaway is putting no restrictions on himself moving forward.
“I’ve been doing a lot of research and some guys have been coming back after 12, 13, 14 weeks,” he said. “But that’s their doctors and their (severity) of their surgery. So I’m not worried about them. But it feels good to know you can recover from it and still be able to play.
“This is a common injury, wear and tear. A lot of guys have it.”
As for getting back to basketball action?
“I’m not putting no timetable on it,” he said. “I’m not going to do that to stress myself out. I’m going to take it day by day, listen to the doctors, be smart about the whole situation.”
Which is what the Mavericks’ medical team insists upon, by the way.
Hardaway was averaging 14.2 points in 42 games (20 starts) before the injury. He was shooting 33.6 percent from 3-point range, but, most of the time he played was when the entire team was mired in a shooting slump.
His departure from the rotation meant that Reggie Bullock and Josh Green have picked up larger roles.
But, coach Jason Kidd emphasized, don’t diminish the role Hardaway still has.
“To yell, scream, which by the way he’s done a great job,” Kidd said. “When you look at the bench when we started, we had a quiet bench. And you look at what Theo (Pinson) has brought and what Tim is doing, it’s night and day. They’re cheering for one another. They want everyone to have success.”
Hardaway said he will continue doing that job. He and Pinson are always seen hopping off the bench and welcoming teammates at timeouts or after highlight-reel plays.
“My guys are out there playing hard, playing together and they’re winning ballgames,” Hardaway said. “All I can do is cheer for them and support them.”
That’s an underrated part of true teams.
Twitter: @ESefko
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