Retrospective: Where does Elfrid Payton rank in All-time Magic point guards?

1) Penny Hardaway

Some contest Penny Hardaway was not just the best point guard in Magic history, but also the best player. He was a Hall-of-Fame talent whose career was derailed by injuries. But his early ascent illustrated the Magic obtained a legendary talent in the 1993 NBA draft.

Hardaway averaged 16 points, 6.6 assists and 5.4 rebounds as a rookie, and during the 1996 season (Shaq’s final year with him), he averaged 21.7 points, 7.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game as he made his second All-Star appearance.

Hardaway also could defend in addition to his flashy play with the ball. His talent could have rendered him one of the best-50 players in NBA history, but instead his productive seasons tailed off around age 28, the result of too much wear and tear on his knees.

Penny was a deer asked to run like a thoroughbred after Shaq left, and it was just too much for him. His performance in the 1997 Playoffs against the Miami Heat was the apex of his NBA career.

In the five-game series, Hardaway averaged 31 points and six rebounds per game, while nearly bringing the Magic back from an 0-2 deficit on his own. In Games Three and Four, he put up 42 and 41 points in two winning efforts, attempting 53 field goals over the two games.

The Heat put the clamps on Penny in game 5, but it was an incredible effort by a player whose acclaim is legendary, even if his career was stunted.

Hardaway lingered on in the NBA until age 36, but his last season of productivity came at age 32. Even at that point, he was a shadow of the immense talent he was while in Orlando.

Next: What we learned from the oral history on the 1995 Magic