RETIRED All-Star Tim Hardaway still considers his wicked crossover move as the best ever in the NBA - and the likes of Kyrie Irving and Shammgod Wells (AKA God Shammgod) can all just fall in line behind him.

“My crossover is better than everybody and still is,” he said on Thursday upon arriving in the country for the NBA 3x Philippines event presented by AXA. “I tell you, there is no argument, it’s mine.”

Lest the 51-year-old former All-NBA First Team be misconstrued as conceited, he is not.

“Most people think that I’m arrogant but I’m not arrogant. I’m just telling you that my crossover is better than yours and its fast and that’s the way I am,” added Hardaway, now an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons after playing in the league from 1989 to 2003, most notably with the Golden State Warriors and the Miami Heat.

“You have to be always confident in this game to get in where you want to get,” he stressed. “If you’re not confident in this game, you can’t reach the potential that you want to reach.”

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Selected in the first round (14th overall) by the Warriors in the 1989 NBA draft, Hardaway became known for his ‘killer crossover’ during his stint with the Bay Area franchise as the engineer of the run-and-gun, high-scoring ‘Run TMC’ trio which he formed with Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond under coach Don Nelson.

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But after two seasons together, the trio was broken up with the trade of Richmond to the Sacramento Kings and later, of Hardaway to the Miami Heat where he became the star point guard of Hall of Fame coach Pat Riley.

Unlike players of today who ‘dribble too much’ and are allowed to ‘dribble for 24 seconds,’ Hardaway said he didn’t do it his way because ‘I would have exhausted too much energy.’

“These guys, they’ll cross you over and then bring it back. Like James Harden, they’ll try to cross you over again and again, bring it back,” said Hardaway. “Don Nelson and Pat Riley would have taken you out."

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He later revealed a pact he had with the two legendary coaches.

“I had an agreement with Don Nelson and Pat Riley that when I’m inside the court I have to get it done like seven or 10 seconds, not 24 seconds,” said Hardaway, a five-time All-Star and a three-time All-NBA Second Team.

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Still he was generous enough to mention some of the players who he thinks have very good handles, rating Irving of the Boston Celtics and Walker of the Charlotte Hornets as among the best.

“I look at Kemba Walker and Kyrie irving as (the two with) the best handles now,” said Hardaway, whose son Tim Hardaway Jr. currently plays for the New York Knicks.

“Chris Paul still has nice handle, of course, Steph Curry.”

This marks the second time Hardaway is visiting the country after playing here as part of the NBA Asia Challenge, an experience which he describes as ‘remarkable.’

“It was great. I had a lot of fun, we enjoyed ourselves. We had a great time,” recalled the native of Chicago, Illinois, who was part of the US team that won the basketball gold during the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

He expects the same when the NBA 3X Philippines is played on Aug. 25-26 at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall.

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The event, now on its eighth year, will also feature NBA champion Brian Scalabrine and the Detroit Pistons dunk team and showcases a 3-on-3 game featuring men’s and women’s teams of all ages, combined with authentic NBA entertainment action like no other.

The competitive 3-on-3 tournament consists of divisions of for boys (under-13, under-16, under-18, and open category), and girls (under-18 and open category). Additionally, fans can catch renowned local personalities in the Celebrity Division, while the AXA division will host employees and distributors.

“This year we are thrilled to present once again the NBA 3X Philippines program,” said AXA Philippine president and chief executive officer Rahul Hora. “With the popularity of basketball in the country, we at AXA Philippines aim to use this as a platform to spread the world to local NBA fans how essential it is to prepare early your game plan in life.”