On Tuesday, Shaquille O’Neal became the first player in Orlando Magic history to have his jersey retired by the franchise. After their game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the team held a ceremony and raised his jersey into the rafters, immortalizing him for his contributions to the franchise.
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While the day was all about celebrating O’Neal’s time in Orlando, the four-time NBA champion paid homage to former Magic teammate Penny Hardaway. In a speech before the team’s game against the Thunder, O’Neal recalled pushing then-general manager John Gabriel to draft the guard with the first overall pick in the 1993 NBA draft. He said,
“I told Alex [Martins] and John [Gabriel], there’s this guy called Penny Hardaway. We have to get him. They said, ‘Ah, we can’t make any promises.’ So, when they didn’t draft him and they draft Chris Webber, I tore my damn house up.”
O’Neal was incensed, but he wasn’t aware of what Martins and Gabriel were cooking behind the scenes. After drafting Chris Webber with the first overall pick, they traded him to the Golden State Warriors for Hardway, whom they picked third overall, and three future first-round draft picks. After completing the trade, Gabriel called O’Neal and informed him that the team had fulfilled his wish.
O’Neal and Hardaway were teammates for three seasons between 1993 and 1996. The duo led the franchise to their maiden playoff appearance in their first season together. The following year, they dragged the Magic to the NBA Finals but fell short against the Houston Rockets. O’Neal and Hardaway’s final season together ended in a 4-0 loss to the Chicago Bulls in the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals. In the offseason, the big man left the team and joined the Los Angeles Lakers.
O’Neal shared his gratitude for Hardaway, saying,
“I want to say thank you, brother. I know I always celebrated a lot, but I’ve never been selfish. A lot of my success comes from you, because you took care of me. You made me look good. So, I never got to tell you this, but I always wanted to tell you, thank you.”
It may not be more so than ‘Shaq and Kobe’, but it is hard not to think of Penny Hardaway when fans think about Shaquille O’Neal’s career. When the two played together, there weren’t many who could even dream of beating them.
O’Neal and Hardaway were an incredible duo who parted way too soon. They enjoyed plenty of success together but couldn’t lead the Magic to that elusive championship. Had Orlando retained O’Neal in 1996, perhaps O’Neal and Hardaway would be sporting championship rings they won together at the jersey retirement ceremony.
Why did Shaquille O’Neal leave Orlando Magic in 1996?
In 1994, Penny Hardway, who was only one year into his NBA career, exercised the early termination option in his contract and landed a massive $70 million extension from the Magic. Two years later, when O’Neal’s rookie deal was up, he asked for a bigger contract but was turned away by the franchise.
During an appearance on Oprah’s Master Class podcast in 2018, O’Neal revealed that the Magic picked Hardaway over him to be the franchise’s future. He said,
“When my deal was up, they didn’t want to give me the money that I wanted and they said it was Penny’s team. So instead of me talking to Penny, ego kicked in a little bit, and then, I tested out free agency.”
The Magic allowed O’Neal to test free agency, and the Los Angeles Lakers pounced on the opportunity and handed him a seven-year, $120 million deal, the biggest contract in NBA history. Orlando would rue the decision to let O’Neal walk. He led the Lakers to three straight championships between 2000 and 2002 and won another title with the Miami Heat in 2006. On the flip side, the Magic failed to make it past the first round of the playoffs for 12 years after O’Neal’s departure.
Betting on Hardaway did not pan out too well. He suffered a severe knee injury in the 1996 playoffs and lost his explosiveness. His career dwindled over the next three seasons, and the Magic decided to cut their losses in 1999 and traded him to the Phoenix Suns. Orlando picking the guard over O’Neal completely altered the course of the league and proved to be one of the biggest mistakes by a franchise in NBA history.
