Penny Hardaway joined Shaquille O’Neal on the Orlando Magic just one year after The Diesel made his own NBA debut, creating one of basketball’s most entertaining duos during the mid-1990s. The pair won 50 games and led Orlando to the franchise’s first playoff series in Hardaway’s rookie season, officially putting the league on notice. It was only a matter of time before Hardaway — and especially O’Neal — were viewed as celebrities in the state of Florida.
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Hardaway recently reminisced on his time with Shaq in Orlando, where the two nearly led the team to a championship in 1994-95. As the Magic became a household name, so did the franchise’s two stars. But it was hard for anyone to stand out more than the 7-foot-1, 300-pound behemoth that was Shaquille O’Neal.
While tagging along with his superstar running mate, it was impossible for Hardaway to sneak through a crowd and avoid the raging fanfare. The former point guard explained that Shaq’s stardom transcended basketball. Even non-basketball fans could recognize Shaq’s one-of-a-kind frame, making it difficult for him to go out in public undetected.
“Being with Shaq, it was like being with a rockstar,” Hardaway said on The OGs. “You went to the hotels, it doesn’t matter what time you got there, it was 60, 70, 80, 90, people. It could be three in the morning, people got there. Five-year-old kids asking for an autograph. And everywhere we went, it was like a huge party, man.”
The electrifying duo was never able to capture a title in Orlando together, but playing three seasons alongside The Big Fella clearly left a lasting impression on Hardaway. The four-time All-Star has also recalled their elite on-court chemistry on multiple occasions.
Penny Hardaway explained why his chemistry with Shaq was on point
Shaquille O’Neal notably butted heads with his next superstar teammate, Kobe Bryant, after joining the Los Angeles Lakers. But the Hall-of-Fame center didn’t seem to have those issues with Hardaway, who was closer to being a star than Kobe was when he first entered the league.
Hardaway knew who the face of the franchise was, and, despite his own talents, didn’t try to overtake Shaq as the centerpiece of the offense. The 52-year-old had plenty of opportunity to get his props but never at the expense of Shaq’s touches.
“[Shaq] was definitely my best teammate ever,” Hardaway said. “What I tried to do, man, was just feed him because I was confident with who I was and comfortable in my own skin. You get those teammates sometimes, and they bump heads because they try to go against each other. Shaq never had to face that with me.”
In part due to injuries, Penny Hardaway never came close to the heights that Kobe Bryant reached in his career. But the Tennessee native’s willingness to put his own statistics to the side in favor of winning also may have kept us from seeing the best version of him.
