It's always fun to see former Wolverine greats play professional ball in the state of Michigan, and fans in Ann Arbor and Detroit will get to see another one during the 2024-25 NBA season.
Former Michigan men's basketball star Tim Hardaway Jr. will continue his career with the Detroit Pistons, who traded for the sharpshooting wing and three second-round draft picks from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Quinten Grimes back on June 28.
On Saturday, the Pistons welcomed Hardaway Jr. home with a tribute video on social media. The former Wolverine can be seen arriving in a maize and blue No. 2 jersey, which appears to be an homage to Michigan legendary cornerback Charles Woodson (though it could represent current Wolverine star Will Johnson as well).
Detroit, @T_HardJR is here 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/Lko5ruagsO
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) July 6, 2024
At Michigan, Hardaway Jr. is best known as the running mate of fellow backcourt star Trey Burke, who led the Wolverines to the 2013 Final Four and national championship game. That season, Hardaway Jr. averaged 14.5 points per game while shooting 43.7% from the field and 37.4% from the 3-point line. He added 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game as well, in a season in which he was named first team All-Big Ten by the conference's coaches and second team All-Big Ten by the media.
During his career at Michigan, Hardaway Jr. scored 1,532 points (14.3 per game), grabbed 440 rebounds (4.1 per game), handed out 225 assists (2.1 per game) and added 76 steals (0.7 per game) and 33 blocked shots. He was a unanimous third team All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore in 2011-12, and earned honorable mention All-Big Ten as a freshman the season prior. Hardaway Jr. was a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman team selection in 2010-11, a season in which he set Michigan's freshman single-season record for 3-pointers made with 76. That record was later broken by Nik Stauskas in 2012-13.
During his 12-year NBA career, Hardaway Jr. has averaged 14 points per game while shooting 41.8% from the field, 36% from the 3-point line and 81.2% from the free throw line. The 6-foot-5, 205-pounder adds 2.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game.