Tim Hardaway Jr. Clears Up Stance on Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving After Father’s Criticism

The Mavericks’ guard set the record straight about his teammates despite his dad’s recent comments.

Tim Hardaway Jr. was not thrilled about his dad’s recent comments criticizing Mavericks’ Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving and the duo’s lack of leadership in the team’s current state of affairs.

Dallas (37–42) has lost seven of its last 10 games and currently sits a half game behind the Thunder for the 10th and final play-in spot in the Western Conference. Tim Hardaway Sr., who was recently inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, appeared on Fox Sports 1’s The Carlton Show on Wednesday, saying that Dončić and Irving were not leaders and that the team is missing “a leader out there” and referenced that “Jalen Brunson was a leader.”

“A leader shows by example too, by playing defense,” Hardaway Sr. said on the show. “When he says something, he does it also, and thats what a leader is. And like I said, those two guys are not leaders, they're complimentary, dominant great basketball players. Great scorers.”

When Hardaway Jr. heard about his father’s comments, he disagreed “1000%” with the statements and credited both players as being good leaders in the organization.

“I’ve come out numerous of times and told you all how much leadership Luka [Dončić] has shown throughout my entire time here in Dallas,” the younger Hardaway said, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon and Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News. “He shows it on and off the floor. … And Kyrie [Irving] has been nothing [other] than a leader since he’s been here. …So it’s just hard to deal with that.

“I love those guys. I love my teammates. … It’s disappointing that I have to come out here and say this. I love him [his dad] to death. … My dad made a mistake. It’s his opinion, not mine. We’re two different human beings.”

Dallas plays one of its last three games of the regular season against the Kings (48–31) on Wednesday with hopes of landing a Western Conference play-in spot.