MIAMI, July 3 -- Tim Hardaway Jr. did not ask for a particular jersey number. He signed a one-year contract with the Miami Heat this week, returning to the franchise his father helped define in the 1990s, and there are 31 other numbers available. But the No. 10 that hangs in the rafters at Kaseya Center is not one of them. Tim Hardaway Sr. made that clear when asked about it on a Miami radio show: he has no plans to see that number worn by a Miami Heat player again, including his own son.

Senior made those remarks on the Hochman, Crowder and Solana radio program, his answer carrying the matter-of-fact tone of a man who had already made peace with what he was saying. He was not put on the defensive. He did not need to think about it. Reti...