Killer Crossover: My Life from the Chicago Streets to Basketball Royalty

by Tim Hardaway, Jacob Uitti (primary_contributor)

Considered one of the best point guards of his generation, Tim Hardaway was a polarizing figure on the basketball court. Known for his distinguished college career at UTEP, Hardaway was selected in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. He soon became a household name.

In Killer Crossover, Hardaway shares stories from his tough upbringing in Chicago through his collegiate career and to the NBA. As a part of "Run TMC" (with fellow Warriors Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin), he immediately made himself known as one of the top players on the hardwood. Joining the Miami Heat in 1996, and along with teammates Alonzo Mourning, Dan Majerle, and Jamal Mashburn (to name a few), he would be a protagonist in one of the most contentious rivalries in all of basketball against the New York Knicks. 

A master trash talker and one of the best ball handlers, Hardaway shares what it was like playing basketball in the nineties against some of the greatest to ever play the game, including future Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Patrick Ewing, and Reggie Miller. Never one to hold back, "Tim Bug" pulls back the curtain on the blood, sweat, and tears that went into becoming one of the most feared guards in the game and a future Hall of Famer. 

But with the good comes the bad, as Hardaway opens up about his hurtful and anti-gay comments in 2007, and how a single radio interview turned his life upside-down. Though knocked down and painted as a hateful person, he adapted his "crossover" mentality to humbling himself and learning from his mistakes. Doing so, he became a proponent for the LGBTQ+ community, working closely with The Trevor Project and The YES Institute, as well as being the symbolic first signer of a petition to overturn "Florida Amendment 2," allowing same-sex marriage in the state of Florida.

Killer Crossover is not just a basketball biography. It is the story of a man who worked his way from humble beginnings to becoming an All-Star at the highest level—not to mention a father to a future NBA standout—and all the trials and tribulations that come along with being one of the best in the game.

Genres: Basketball

336 pages, Hardcover

Published November 11, 2025

Reviews

[Mark Lieberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this from Netgalley, so I can read and review it before it’s published. Before I dive in, I was a huge basketball fan (mainly San Antonio Spurs, but also the league in general) when Tim was in the NBA and this book actually brought back a lot of memories of him, his teammates, and his coaches. A lot of former Spurs players were mentioned, and even Coach Pop who before he was the Spurs coach, he was an assistant in Golden State where Tim played.

I really enjoyed this book and how he grew up in Chicago, and ended up as a Hall of Famer. He talked about his high school days, college days at UTEP under the coaching legend of Don Haskins, his NBA career with Golden State, (Don Nelson) Miami (Pat Riley), Dallas (Don Nelson), Denver, Indiana, and his gold medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He played with a lot of terrific players, and several are in the Hall of Fame as well. He talked about his “trash talking” and his “killer crossover” that made him one of the best point guards while he was playing. While he was playing for the Miami Heat, the New York Knicks were their main rival and a lot of key playoff games were discussed.

He also talked about his son, Tim Jr., who also made it to the NBA (and unlike his had, his teams went to both a College Finals and an NBA Finals).

He even talked about a comment that he made on a radio show, and how it shook his world and turned it upside down. He was able to bounce back, and learned from that mistake.

I am looking at the 1989 NBA draft, and there are actually a lot of well known players:

Sean Elliott – 3
Glen Rice – 4
Mookie Blalock – 12
Tim Hardaway- 14
Shawn Kemp – 17
Vlade Divac – 26
Dino Radja – 40

It’s funny because, I still have some unopened basketball cards from that season of the NBA. Also, that season, David Robinson from the Spurs won the Rookie of the Year and Minnesota and Orlando were in there first year.

[Tom Gase · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good autobiography by former NBA star Tim Hardaway, who played mostly with the Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat, although his time with other teams like Dallas, Denver are also discussed in the book. Hardaway had the UTEP, 2-step while playing at Texas El Paso in college and his time is also discussed in this book. I forgot just how short his time was with the Warriors, only about four years. He was part of RUN TMC, and that time with Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullun is talked about for a few chapters in this book. His time with the Heat was much longer and the battles the Heat had in the playoffs year after year after year are discussed in this one. Hardaway also discusses his son playing in the NBA as well as his own mistake in 2007 when he said he hated gays. I had almost forgotten about that, but it looks like he was immediately ashamed of what he said, especially after seeing the reaction his kids had toward him after the comments. Along with issuing an apology, he vowed to learn about the LGBTQ community and help out their organizations while he learned to be better. It looks like he actually walked the walk instead of just issuing an apology. A few years later he was a big advocate for making sure same-sex marriage could take place. If you're an NBA fan, you'll love this book and it seems like except for the one big foul up, he's a good person. However, there were a few spelling errors in this one and he constantly screwed up Pat Riley's timeline as a Laker coach, so I couldn't quite give this a five-star review.

[Jeff Wait · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m glad Tim got to write this book. He said some horribly homophobic stuff in ‘07, and he takes responsibility for it and explains what he has done to try to atone and, more importantly, be a better person going forward. This part reminds me of Stassi Schroeder’s book “Off With My Head,” but then he also talked a ton about his experience with basketball, and that really sings. Tons of random player name drops (Terry Teague, anyone? How about Bimbo Coles?), and he touches on his washed years in Dallas, Denver and Indy. Just a ton of great stories, advice, mindset stuff and an explanation of what leadership and growth should look like. Tim is a legend. Read it and learn!

[Len or Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one quickly and it was fun to revisit the career of the Chicago born Hardaway. He addresses his controversial remarks about gay people at both the beginning and the end of the book and truly shows remorse. He also celebrates his career the right way- with no false modesty while still appreciating everything he was able to do.

[Cameron Beams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly uninteresting beginning to the memoir that really picks up once Hardaway expands more on his professional career and the life insights outside of it.