Back in 1996, a 24-year-old Shaquille O’Neal left the Orlando Magic to play for the LA Lakers. Shaq won the NBA title thrice back-to-back with the Lakers and formed one of the most dynamic duos in the league’s history alongside Kobe Bryant. However, during his time at the Magic, O’Neal looked set to reach similar heights alongside Penny Hardaway, who joined the Magic a year after him. The two played in the 1994 NBA Finals and were both dominant stars firmly on the up.
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Eventually, O’Neal reached the heights expected of him alongside Bryant, after an infamous split with the Magic. Shaq had multiple issues with the franchise which eventually led to a 7-year, $120,000,000 million contract with the Lakers. Regardless, he still appears to hold Penny Hardaway in the highest regard. Shaq shared an Instagram story from the “bball” account which highlighted his past quote on his former teammate. O’Neal had said that Hardaway would have been one of the top-3 greatest players of all time had it not been for his injuries.
Shaquille O’Neal shares past quote about former Magic teammate Penny Hardaway
Shaquille O’Neal reportedly had a say in ensuring that Hardaway made his way to the Magic. Penny Hardaway was initially picked by the Golden State Warriors as the 3rd overall pick of the 1993 NBA draft, a year after the Magic had selected Shaq as the number one pick.
The two went on to have consistent success and led the Magic to the NBA Finals in the 1994-95 season. Despite them being swept by the Rockets, Hardaway averaged more than 20 points per game for three straight seasons after his rookie year.
A knee injury in 1997 meant that he was never able to reach the heights that were expected of him. Regardless, Shaq said on the Pivot Podcast that Penny would have been an all-time great. He claimed that it took Kobe two years to reach the level that Hardaway already arrived at:
“If Penny didn’t get hurt, he would have been one of the top 3 players in the history of the game… Took Kobe two, maybe two and a half years to get to that level. Penny came in, he was already like that. First-year he came, we went to the finals. Penny was cold! People give me flak like that and say he couldn’t have turned out, but if he wouldn’t have gotten injured, he would definitely be up there, definitely.”
O’Neal shared the same quote on Instagram, which was initially posted by the “bball” Instagram account. The quote was accompanied with a reel showcasing some of Hardaway’s memorable highlights.
O’Neal did not include Penny Hardaway in his list of top-5 players
While O’Neal obviously holds Hardaway in high regard, he does not believe he features among the greatest players in the NBA. Speaking on NBA Rewind with Ahmad Rashad, Shaq listed out five familiar names when asked about his top-5:
“Julius Erving, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.”
While Kobe Bryant made the list, O’Neal left out Hardaway. This is evidently due to the injury troubles he had. As a 4-time All-Star, Hardaway never came closer to winning the NBA title than the 1994-95 season. This was when he played alongside Shaquille O’Neal.
