Mystery Player #71
Monday, September 14, 2026 · already played
The answer
Spoiler for the puzzle of Monday, September 14, 2026. Today's puzzle is not revealed anywhere on this page.
Tim Hardaway
G · 1989–2003
Tim Hardaway's career
Tim Hardaway played 14 seasons between 1989 and 2003, across 5 franchises — Warriors, Heat, Mavericks, Nuggets and Pacers. Over 867 regular-season games he averaged 17.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 8.2 assists, finishing with 15,373 career points. He was 5× All-Star and 5× All-NBA.
He entered the league in the 1989 draft, taken 14th overall in the lottery. That makes him a product of the 1980s, and his career totals should be read against the pace and rules of that period.
Across a long career of 14 seasons he was a consistent starter at 17.7 points per game. He was a genuine playmaker, not just a finisher.
- Games
- 867
- PPG
- 17.7
- RPG
- 3.3
- APG
- 8.2
- Points
- 15,373
- Rebounds
- 2,855
- Assists
- 7,095
- 3PM
- 1,542
Teams
- Warriors · 1990–1993
- Warriors · 1995–1996
- Heat · 1996–2001
- Mavericks · 2002
- Nuggets · 2002
- Pacers · 2003
Honours
5× All-Star · 5× All-NBA · 1× Olympic gold
How the clues read
Every guess that day was scored against Tim Hardaway across nine categories. These were the values behind the grid.
- Position:
- G
- Debut season:
- 1989
- Status:
- Retired
- Nationality:
- USA
- Teams:
- Warriors, Warriors, Heat, Mavericks, Nuggets, Pacers
- Points per game:
- 17.7
- Championships:
- 0
- All-Star selections:
- 5
Why this was a fair answer
Answers are never obscure by design: the pool is every NBA All-Star who debuted in the 1969-70 season or later, plus current players carrying a real scoring role. Tim Hardaway qualifies on the first route, with 5 All-Star selections — a repeat selection.
With 5 franchises on his record, the shared-team clue was unusually generous here — a wide range of guesses would have lit it up green and pointed the wrong way as often as the right one. The debut arrow was the fastest way in: anyone opening with a modern player would have been sent back decades immediately. He never won a title, which quietly rules out a large share of the most-guessed names.
Play it yourself
This puzzle is still replayable — open Mystery Player #71 in the archive to play the round exactly as it was, or start today's puzzle. Archive rounds never affect your daily streak.
Recent Mystery Player answers
See the full Mystery Player archive for every puzzle played so far.