It’s fitting that Hardaway and Ginobili enter the Hall together as both players were masters of deception and change of direction. Countless players – including Allen Iverson, Jamal Crawford, Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, Stephen Curry and James Harden to name a few - have unleashed the crossover over the past few decades as the move will live long after the man that first made it famous. From the crowd in the arena to the fans watching on television or scrolling on their phones, dropping a defender with a crossover is a viral moment waiting to happen.īut the effectiveness of the move is what makes it timeless. And there are few plays that will draw louder reactions than a defender stumbling and falling after biting on a great crossover. The crossover remains one of the best one-on-one moves for an offensive player to create space to either make a play for themselves or their teammates.
The crossover is one of the few moves in the game that is both as effective as it is stylish. As soon as the defender reacts and moves to cut off the driving lane, Hardaway immediately crosses over from his left hand back to his right hand and blows past the frozen defender. It starts with a low, hard between-the-legs dribble, most often from the right hand to the left hand, with Hardaway shifting his weight to the left to sell the defender that he is about to drive. Take a listen as players from past and present talk about Tim Hardaway's signature move! As he’s dribbling toward the basket from the perimeter, Hardaway is studying his defender, sizing him up and watching his feet to find the perfect time to initiate his move. There’s a precision to the timing and execution that make the move effective. The crossover was his weapon of choice – a move that sounds simple in theory as a change of direction dribble, but is difficult to master. Similar to another legendary point guard born and raised in Chicago – Isiah Thomas – Hardaway was undersized at 6-feet tall and had to rely on speed, quickness and skill to find success in the league.
When Hardaway arrived in the NBA – he was the 14th pick in the 1989 draft by the Golden State Warriors to form the famous “Run TMC” trio with fellow Hall of Famers Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond – the move became known as the Killer Crossover as Hardaway slayed plenty of opposing guards with his signature maneuver. But it wasn’t until he arrived at the University of Texas-El Paso that the basketball world at large first got a glimpse of the “UTEP two-step.” Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, Hardaway perfected the move over countless games in gyms and playgrounds all over the city. While he was not the first to do it, he was the man that made the move famous and his success with the Killer Crossover propelled the move to become a staple in the game for the past 30-plus years. Let’s begin by getting this out of the way: Tim Hardaway did not invent the crossover dribble. They are part of a lexicon of signature moves from some of the game’s all-time greats: Watch any basketball game today – NBA, WNBA, EuroLeague, NCAA, AAU, high school, pick-up games – and you will see the influence of both Hardaway and Ginobili on display thanks to a pair of signature moves that came to prominence thanks to these two icons – the Killer Crossover and the Eurostep. The two NBA players headlining the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022 embody that idea – Tim Hardaway and Manu Ginobili. When discussing players entering the Hall of Fame, it is easy to get caught up in career resumes – an extensive laundry list of gaudy statistics, awards and accolades that each player achieved over the course of a long career.īut there is also the impact on the game that goes beyond earning awards such as Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year, or scoring champion. Check out some of Tim Hardaway's best crossovers throughout his career!
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