2. Penny announces himself
It became clear very quickly the Orlando Magic had something special in Anfernee Hardaway. As Pat Williams said as fans drowned him in boos for trading Chris Webber for this relatively unknown big guard from Memphis State, those boos turned to cheers pretty quickly.
Hardaway’s special skills as an athlete with point guard abilities drew comparisons to Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson. And they were well deserved.
Nothing quite cemented what this kid could do like his iconic dunk on Patrick Ewing.
Here was a second-year player taking on one of the fiercest defenders in the league and scaling that mountain with incredible ease. If Hardaway needed a play to establish himself among the league’s elite, this was that play.
This was a play that told the New York Knicks early in the 1995 season their vice-like grip on the Atlantic Division was not only slipping, but it was gone.
The Magic won the game easily with Hardaway scoring 33 points and eight assists, one of those assists came as Hardaway was falling out of bounds flinging the ball over his shoulder to a streaking Anthony Bowie for a dunk.
Hardaway though put the exclamation point on this game and this win. And got the Magic’s December going toward a NBA Finals trip.