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Monday, January 8, 2001
Hardaway wants to mend relationship with daughter



PHOENIX -- Phoenix Suns star Penny Hardaway said there is a "good possibility" a misdemeanor intimidation charge against him will be dropped.

"I hope they will," Hardaway said Sunday night after he made his first NBA appearance of the season.

He said the matter has been discussed between his lawyers and prosecutors in Paradise Valley, the affluent Phoenix suburb where he lives.

In a complaint filed Nov. 20, Latarsha McCray, the mother of Hardaway's 8-year-old daughter, said she and Hardaway had been arguing two nights earlier and she left his house to sleep in a vehicle outside. She said he came outside and yelled at her while carrying a handgun.

She did not accuse him of pointing the weapon at her.

When the Paradise Valley town attorney's office decided Dec. 14 to charge him with intimidation, Hardaway insisted he would be cleared when all the facts were known.

"I've always said from the beginning that I was innocent and I had no intentions of intimidating anybody with a weapon at all," Hardaway said Sunday night. "It was a misunderstanding."

Hardaway said McCray had been inaccurately characterized in news stories as his girlfriend. He said the two have not had a relationship for eight years.

The incident stemmed from his desire to develop a relationship with his daughter, he said.

"I haven't had a relationship with her over the last eight years and it's time to build one," Hardaway said.

McCray had flown from her home in Memphis to meet with Hardaway to discuss their daughter.

"My daughter is the issue. It's not about myself and not her mom," Hardaway said. "It's just about getting my relationship back with her and going from there."

He said dropping the charge "a huge relief. Then I can just think about basketball."

Hardaway had not played for the Suns until Sunday while recovering from knee surgery.


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