Hardaway Gets Ticketed for Driving 110 MPH

Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway, stopped for racing his car in excess of 110 mph in a 40 mph zone, cursed police and told them he had friends in high places, Miami Beach police said Monday.

Hardaway was driving a Ferrari when he was pulled over at 2 a.m. Friday.

“I have friends in high place who can make it very unpleasant for you,” a police report quotes Hardaway as telling two officers.

“If he arrests me, I’ll take him down,” Hardaway allegedly said, referring to the one officer who wrote the ticket. Hardaway used profanities in referring to the officers, the report said.

“It’s pretty sad . . . if we realize this individual indeed presents himself as a modern day hero that youngsters look up to,” Alfred Boza, a Miami Beach police spokesman, said Monday. “His behavior . . . troubles me a great deal.”

Hardaway, 31, led the Heat to the Eastern Conference finals where they lost to the Chicago Bulls in five games. He was named to the All-NBA first team.

Hardaway, who was not given a sobriety test, does not have a record of getting into trouble with police. He could not be reached for comment, and the Miami Heat front office didn’t return a telephone call Monday.

The fine for driving 30 mph or faster over the speed limit--$265--is the same regardless of the top speed. The fine is doubled in Florida when the speeding is in a construction zone.

Hardaway, who had the personalized Florida license plate “THARD,” allegedly said the officer knew who he was because of his license plate and that he had been stopped because he was black.

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The deal that sent Dino Radja from Boston to Philadelphia could be nullified if he refuses to report to the 76ers for a physical, Celtic Coach Rick Pitino said.

And Radja would face “very severe” penalties, Pitino said.

Radja was traded to the 76ers on Friday for Clarence Weatherspoon and Michael Cage, who were in Boston on Monday for a routine medical examination.

League rules give players 48 business hours to report, a deadline that expires for Radja at 5 p.m. (EST) today.

Through his agent, Marc Fleisher, Radja told the Celtics he did not want to go. Fleisher and the 76ers were not available for comment.

NBA spokesman Chris Brienza said the league does not have a standard penalty for a player who does not report after a trade.

“You have to take every case on its own merits,” he said.