Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway could have created an everlasting dynasty in Orlando for the Magic. However, the Magic management fumbled the ball to lose Shaq over monetary disputes. In hindsight, Shaq has expressed regret for fighting with Hardaway for petty reasons. However, years after his rift with Hardaway, the Big Fella recently decided to show some love to his former teammate.
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The beef between the Diesel and Penny Hardaway seems to be a thing of the past. Shaq showered praise on his former teammate recently on his Instagram stories.
Shaq shows love to Penny Hardaway pic.twitter.com/lUYHh3oGbz
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) July 4, 2023
The four-time NBA Champion shared a reel of Hardaway with the caption, “Penny Hardaway is all-time bruh.” Shaq reminded his fans of Hardaway’s greatness with a compilation of the Magic star’s stellar highlights.
In the clip, Hardaway can be seen doing 360 dunks and crossover moves effortlessly. The four-time All-Star’s victims in the video included the likes of Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing. The clip showcased the raw talent of Hardaway and how it never really translated fully on the court due to injuries.
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Shaq later on admitted that he regretted fighting over petty subjects and titles with Penny Hardaway, which might have cost him the 1995 NBA championship. He let his ego come in his way, preventing him from playing the sport in the essence of team spirit. Addressing this on the Full Send Podcast, Shaq had said,
“We [Penny and Shaq] definitely could have got one no doubt. The thing in Orlando was, when you’re young and silly you chase useless titles. Like I know when I got there, I was the man. But then when Penny got there he thought he was the man. And we were fighting over bulls**t useless titles that didn’t make sense!”
When Shaq moved to Miami in 2004, he realized that it was time to be a guiding figure for younger athletes rather than being the protagonist always. At the same time, Dwayne Wade had started to turn heads as a rookie, looking up to Shaq and his skills in the league. The Big Man allowed D. Wade to take the reins of the Miami Heat, which brought in the 2006 NBA Championship.
Perhaps Shaq and Hardaway could have achieved the same in 1995 against the Houston Rockets if they worked better in tandem.
