Hobby Musings: Tim Hardaway Spills Memorabilia Secret – Interview
Editor’s Note: Some text has been altered from original audio for clarity.
Hobby Musings: Tim Hardaway Spills Memorabilia Secret – Courtesy of Flex NBA, I had the chance to catch up with Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway Sr. The basketball legend discussed some of his experiences with autographs and memorabilia, including a secret he’s been keeping until now.
KS: All right, Mr. Hardaway, here’s the 2023 National Sports Collectors Convention. All the stuff around us. All this amazing memorabilia. Even Flex, you were talking about the technology aspect of it. When you first started playing, like when you started your NBA career, did you ever imagine the memorabilia world would get to be like this?
TH: Never. Never, ever thought the memorabilia world would be like this. I mean, each and every year it’s growing, growing, growing. It’s a billion-dollar industry now. People want cards. They want jerseys. They want helmets. They want a lot of stuff signed, and it’s crazy, but I enjoy the people because they are fans, and we should accommodate them.
KS: You talk about fans. They love their autographs. What is the strangest thing someone has ever asked you to sign?
TH: Their head, their forehead. That’s the strangest thing. Somebody literally asked me to sign their forehead, and I actually told them I can’t do that because if you get poisoned or whatever, ink poisoning or whatever, I would feel bad. So, I didn’t do it, but they wanted me to do it. Some people do it, I can’t do it.
KS: What memorabilia, if any, did you keep from your career?
TH: Oh man, I got a bunch of cards. A bunch of cards. I got a bunch of other folks’ cards. I got a Muhammad Ali card. I got some other cards, you know, Michael Jordan cards. I got a whole bunch of cards that I had people sign I just kept. And it’s in a safe deposit box in a vault somewhere. So, I don’t let nobody see it, and I really didn’t tell nobody about it. You’re all the first ones that know about it now.
KS: Is there anything you didn’t keep that you wish you had?
TH: That I didn’t keep? You know what. I was in grammar school, and I got a Julius Erving autograph on a napkin, and I threw it away by accident because I thought it was trash. Yeah, that was one thing. I never sought an autograph after that until I started playing in the NBA.
Hobby Musings: Tim Hardaway Spills Memorabilia Secret
Kelsey’s ability to bring hobby coverage to the mainstream sports fan has been a true asset. GTS is happy to feature his thoughts on collecting in Hobby Musings. The opinions expressed are his and do not necessarily reflect those of GTS Distribution.
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