The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JUNE/JULY 2025 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 55 BY CLAYTON SAYFIE F ormer Michigan guard and current Detroit Pistons starter Tim Hardaway Jr. was involved in one of the most controversial calls in the NBA playoffs this year. With his team down two points, 118-116, with just seconds left, Hardaway grabbed an offensive rebound just outside the three-point arc, lifted up to attempt a three-point shot but was hit from his right side by New York Knicks guard Josh Hart. No call. Time expires. Pistons lose. "You guys saw it," Hardaway said when asked the first and only question of his postgame media availability, before storming out. "Blatant. Thank you." Pistons All-Star guard Cade Cunningham missed a left-elbow jumper that led to the rebound op- portunity for Hardaway "Cade got his shot," head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "He got to his spot, and he got to his shot, had a shot that we all liked. I trust Cade to take that shot 100 times in a row. "You go back and look at the film, and the guy leaves his feet. There's contact on Tim Hard- away's jump shot. I don't know any other way around it. I repeat: There's contact on his jump shot." In the aftermath of the game — after it was already too late — the NBA agreed. Crew chief David Guthrie told a pool reporter post- game that "after postgame review, we observed that Hart makes body contact that is more than marginal to Hardaway Jr., and a foul should have been called." The Knicks went up 3-1 with the win and finished off Detroit two games later. The Pistons' season, with Hardaway a big part of the story, was a turnaround for the ages, regardless. The franchise went from a league-worst 14-68 record in 2023-24 to a 44-38 mark in 2024- 25, the first year under Bickerstaff and Hardaway's first with the team, which made the playoffs as the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. The 30-win improvement ranks sixth in NBA his- tory, three away from the top five turn- arounds of all time. The Pistons made the playoffs for the first time since 2018-19 and notched their first postseason victory since 2008. Hardaway was one of the key offsea- son acquisitions (traded from the Dallas Mavericks) that helped make the run possible. Starting all 77 regular-season games in which he played, Hardaway averaged 11 points, 2.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per contest. He shot 36.8 per- cent from three-point range, making 2.2 triples per outing. The 33-year-old collected $16.9 mil- ❱ MICHIGAN IN THE PROS Tim Hardaway Jr. Was A Key Piece Of Detroit's Comeback Story Hardaway helped the Detroit Pistons record the sixth-largest turnaround in NBA history, improving by 30 wins over the previous campaign, and make the NBA playoffs for the first time in six years. GRAPHIC COURTESY DETROIT PISTONS