NOTHING WAS THE SAME: The Return of Derek Baldwin (2023-2027)

[chosenone58]

[chosenone58]

Photo courtesy of NBA2K16

When Lamar Hardin’s parents divorced when he was 13, he was tossed into a life he wasn’t ready for. Looking after his two younger siblings while his mom worked two jobs. Basketball was Lamar’s only real outlet.

“It was a constant in my life. Everything was chaotic for me, being shuttled back and forth: mom’s house, dad’s house, grandmother’s house. Basketball was constant. I needed that.”

It was grandmother, Beatrice, who gave him a basketball and dropped him off at the YMCA. Who knew what it would turn into just six short years later.

“He was always watching the games. Just like his grandfather. They would always watch the 76ers game whenever he came to visit when he was a little boy. After my husband passed away, he would just sit in that old back room and watch the games by himself.”

One afternoon everything changed.

“We were out driving, just me and Bee Bee. She left my sister and brother with her neighbor. She drove me to the YMCA, gave me a basketball and told me to have fun. Said she had some errands to run in the city and that she would be back in a few hours.”

“I thought he should actually try playing instead of watching. He was always tall and thin. Like Magic Johnson.”

Lamar grew up in West Philadelphia, primarily the Carroll Park neighborhood. He describes it as “not the best place, but not the worst place in the city.”

After his father remarried and moved to Reading, Pennsylvania with his new wife and family, the visits for Lamar and his siblings went from every other week to every other weekend. So, a lot of time was spent at his grandmother’s house.

“My mom worked two jobs to keep a roof over our heads. She would clean hotels in the city on the weekend almost around the clock. She took as many shifts as she could. So, she would pack us up and we’d go to my Bee Bee’s house on those weekends.”

Lamar was always taking care of his younger brother Tommy and their baby sister Denise.

“I felt like he never had time to be a kid,” said Beatrice. “I hated that he felt like he was put in that situation. He was growing up so fast. And my daughter was stubborn, she refused to move back in with us.”

Debra Hardin laughed at that statement. “I won’t deny it. Those were my kids and I wanted to take care of them. I couldn’t see myself moving back in with my parents at 30 years old.” The look on her face then changes to one of regret. “I didn’t see what the situation was doing to Lamar at the time.”

Playing with the older boys downtown kept him out of trouble. And it also convinced a then six foot tall Lamar to try out for the basketball team at Overbrook High. His grandmother was there for the first game of his high school career and she hadn’t missed one his entire 4 years.

“She used to drive all over the state. Whatever gym we were in, she was sitting on the first row of bleachers behind the bench decked out in her orange and black.”

Hardin led the Panthers to State in his final two years there. He never won a championship game, but he played well enough to earn looks from some of the biggest schools in the country. Duke, Kansas, and UNC among those. But none of those schools interested him.

“When it was time for me to choose a college, it was an easy decision to make,” said Hardin. “I wanted to go to Temple because I wanted my grandma to make as many of my games as possible.”

Owls’ Coach Fran Dunphy couldn’t believe his luck when he got a call from Hardin’s high school coach telling him that his combo guard was interested in playing for his program.

“Lamar literally fell in my lap.”

And for every home game the Owls played, Beatrice Green was in her seat, right behind the bench, in a sweater with a large white T on the front.

After leading the Owls to the Final Four, Coach Dunphy told him not to bother coming back. That it was his time to take the leap.

“That was a tough conversation to have. But the toughest thing was figuring out what I was going to do next. The rest of my life was going to be out of my control for the most part.”

Hardin was right about that. The Sixers were the NBA Champs that year so it was no way he would be staying at home. And the way the scouts had been talking about his was sure to be a Top 5 pick, which meant that his grandmother would only be at his games maybe twice a year. Once, if he was drafted by a team in the Western Conference. And four of the five teams with top picks that year were Golden State, Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston.

And with the first pick of the 2024 NBA Draft, the Golden State Warriors drafted Hardin. In the green room sat his agent, his mom, his siblings, and of course his grandmother.

“When Commissioner Silver called my name for Golden State, she just looked at me and said, ‘I’ve always wanted to live in California.’ That’s when I knew everything would be okay.”

Mrs. Beatrice Green, now 70, lives on a quiet street in Sobrante Park, just a fifteen minute drive from her eldest grandson in Alameda. She still sits courtside for all of her his home games. All decked out in blue and yellow as she does so. Everybody in the Warriors’ organization knows who she is. She was there when he was named Rookie of the Year last season and she says she’ll be there when he gets crowned MVP this season.

“That’s my Bee Bee.”

STATS
Season|Team|GP|MPG|PPG|RPG|APG|SPG|BPG|FG%
2025-2026|GS|70|28.1|18.8|5.2|2.4|2.2|1.7|.700
2024-2025|GS|82|24.4|20.3|6.6|4.4|2.9|2.1|.733

AWARDS
- Rookie of the Year (2025)
- All-Defensive Second Team (2025)
- All-Rookie First Team (2025)

[chosenone58]

[djp73]

Lamar Hardin

:rock:
outstanding article

[chosenone58]

Lamar Hardin

:rock:
outstanding article

I try to bring a little life to the new guys

[C-Dub]

Lamar Odom & James Harden's love child

[chosenone58]

Lamar Odom & James Harden's love child

[C-Dub]

almost playoff time

[The JZA]

Weeee reeaaadddyyy//Weeee reeaaadddyyy//
Weeee reeaaadddyyy//For the plaaayooffsss//

[chosenone58]

almost playoff time

Weeee reeaaadddyyy//Weeee reeaaadddyyy//
Weeee reeaaadddyyy//For the plaaayooffsss//

The countdown is on fellas!