Tim Hardaway Sr. is a NBA hall of famer that had great success in the playoffs and wants to let other players know how to deal with the pressure. Specifically young players because in Tim Hardaway’s second season he was ranked 5th in scoring for all of the playoffs. The playoffs are a way for younger players to shine on one of the biggest stages in the league. It can be very important for young players to show how good they can be in the biggest games with the biggest stakes. It allows the NBA and coaches to see how good these younger players are and if they want to offer them new deals for more money. So to get Hardaway’s opinion on the playoffs the NBA got him to do a Q and A for more information on a players perspective.
“From the NCAA to the NBA, as someone who made an impressive playoff run during your 2nd season, what are some of the biggest obstacles for a young player or team to overcome in the playoffs?” NBA reporter. Hardaway said fatigue and mental fatigue are the biggest things that make the playoffs so much bigger and nerve racking for a young player. This is mostly because they are already not used to playing 82 games in a season but with the playoffs they might play 90 so fatigue can really set in by that point. Hardaway also says this “Another thing is, if you want to win and get to a championship level, you can feel it in the locker room at the end of the season. And you can feel it in a locker room at the beginning of the season. When everybody comes in and you all work out together, you can feel the confidence. It’s nothing anybody’s saying.”. Which can say a lot about how good team chemistry needs to be to win a championship. Another question at the Q and A was “Later in your career with Miami, did your Warriors playoff runs help you mentally prepare for those postseasons? Was your mindset different going into those playoff runs?”. Hardaway said it did, he was much more prepared for what was to come and now he could be a leader for the team and help the younger players through the playoffs. He tried to treat this playoffs as the same in his earlier seasons and give it his all, which helped the younger players on the team understand what it took.
The Q and A with a player like this can help so many younger players or even players in the middle of their career be ready for the playoffs. For more information about the Q and A and what other questions were, go to NBA.com.
