Penny Hardaway was the guy Orlando Magic general manager Pat Williams wanted in the 1993 NBA Draft, and he made the crafty maneuver to cash in fully on having landed the No. 1 pick that season.
One year after having added Shaquille O’Neal to the fold, Williams (correctly) felt it would be best to pair a dynamic guard alongside Shaq rather than the consensus No. 1 pick, power forward Chris Webber.
Trading down for the rights to the No. 3 overall pick that draft landed the Magic Anfernee “œPenny” Hardaway, a player whose talents were assessed to be on a legendary level.
It was not a misappropriation. Hardaway was as popular as he was gifted, making the All-NBA first team in both 1995 and 1996, before Shaq bolted following the 1996 campaign.
Hardaway would make five All-Star appearances, and the former AP All-American may end up being one of the most talented basketball players not to end up in the Hall of Fame. The case against Penny is the same as McGrady: too short-lived a prime.
Before Penny’s body betrayed him, there was a player who in his third season had averaged 23 points, six assists, four rebounds, and a guy whose vast impact exceeded his already gaudy stats and decorated career.
Hardaway eventually wore out his welcome in Orlando and was flipped for Pat Garrity, Danny Manning and a pair of future first-round picks. In terms of how high Penny had climbed, it was quite anti-climatic to trade his talents for a couple role players and draft picks.
Even so, Hardaway will be best remembered for his exertion during the 1997 playoffs when he averaged 35 points per game over the final four games of what became a 3-2 first round bounce to instate rival Miami Heat. In the final three games of the series, Hardaway sat just two minutes of game time, while scoring back-to-back 40-plus point games in games 3 & 4 at the O-Rena to stave off elimination.
It was the sharpest impression Hardaway had made on the NBA and he did it without his accomplice Shaquille O’Neal who was off on his way to winning multiple titles in Los Angeles for the Lakers.
While Hardaway may not have been enough to keep the Magic contending without O’Neal, he was enough to keep the team very formidable and to keep fans filing into the Orlando Arena.
Beyond that, every kid during his “Lil’ Penny” years wanted the shiny Nikes to emulate the gifted guard.
While it may have been O’Neal who shook the foundations of the NBA harder, it was Penny who put the brilliant caps on those seasons and who helped the franchise fight to stay relevant rather than bolt following Shaq’s having done so.
And he should receive the next invite into the Magic’s Hall of Fame.
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