In June of 1993, Penny Hardaway would become an Orlando Magic player after three impressive seasons with the Memphis Tigers. Three months later, the NBA’s greatest player, Michael Jordan, would retire from the sport of basketball. Hardaway took advantage of the power vacuum left by Jordan and became one of the best guards in the league by his sophomore season.
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However, Penny would soon face his toughest professional challenge after MJ returned to the game of basketball following his hiatus.
“Second year, I’m looking at ESPN, they said, you know, Michael Jordan talking about coming back. I’m like, ‘Damn, that’d be crazy if MJ came back. But right now, you gotta understand, I’m that dude in the league now,” the 53-year-old said.
The four-time All-Star recently touched on his first matchup with His Airness on the ‘Knuckleheads’ podcast. “We played him and me and Nick [Anderson] and Dennis [Scott], we went at his head. We was like, we got him, we’re big guards, we just gotta go at him.”
A worthwhile strategy, especially since Hardaway, Anderson and Scott were all above average defenders at the time. But they were equally disadvantaged since Penny had never played against Jordan before, and didn’t have prior experience to draw from.
“My first year, I didn’t see him at all. Second year, most of the beginning of the year, I didn’t see him. Then he just came back…Then in the game, watching him, I was like, ‘Damn, that’s MJ.’ You gotta snap out of that sh*t quick cause he’ll kill you if you ain’t paying attention,” Hardaway added.
The matchup between him and Jordan would come a week after MJ’s return from retirement. His Bulls would enter the final quarter in Chicago with a three-point lead, but Orlando would rally back in the fourth to secure a 7-point win.
Anderson, Scott and Hardaway succeeded in making Jordan uncomfortable too, as he shot just 7 of 23 from the field, ending the night with 21 points, 8 assists and 5 steals. Penny, on the other hand, scored 22 while shooting 7 of 15 from the field and nabbed 5 assists and 6 rebounds in the win.
The relationship between him and Jordan would continue to develop through the 1995 season, as MJ recognized that Hardaway was on the come up. The two would face off in the Playoffs that season, and Mike would shock the NBA world by paying homage to the young Magic guard.
For Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, Jordan showed up to the game wearing Penny’s signature shoes; the Air Flight Ones. Hardaway was taken aback, though he didn’t let the gesture of respect deter him from winning the game and eventually, the series.
Later, he reflected on the moment with humility. “He’s Michael Jordan, He was the man. He didn’t ask me for them. He just told Nike to give them to him… It was like, ‘That’s Michael Jordan … wearing my shoes,’” Penny commented.
If it wasn’t for lower body injuries, Hardaway could have held his own against MJ for the years to come. The following season, once Jordan returned to form, Penny and the Magic were unable to hold a candle to his Bulls as Phil Jackson’s team would sweep them in the 1996 ECF.
