Anfernee ‘Penny’ Hardaway hit the ground running when he joined the league as a 3rd overall pick in 1993. He made it into the NBA All-Rookie First Team and followed it up with a 20.9 points per game season with 4.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.7 steals. He shot over 51% from the field in his second season. Hardaway had two more seasons averaging 20+ points per game, but his career started to decline due to injuries.
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Due to his explosive playing style, he quickly became a fan favorite and was revered by future superstars like LeBron James and the late, great Kobe Bryant.
But nearly two decades after his retirement, the biggest question regarding his career is whether he will make it into the Hall of Fame. While he has been nominated for the honor in the past, can the Magic legend cross the final hurdle and finally earn his orange jacket? Let’s find out.
LeBron James and Kobe Bryant greatly admired Penny Hardaway
Hardaway’s game attracted young and aspiring players who started looking up to him as their role model. Hardaway boasts an impressive roster of players who he influenced. Kobe has been on record saying, “Penny back then was my role model.” Shaquille O’Neal, a former teammate of Hardaway has always said great things about him.
On an episode of his podcast, Shaq outlined how great Hardaway was right from the beginning. He said, “Penny came in Day 1 like this. Kobe’s first year: don’t start. Second year: didn’t start. Third year: upstairs saying, ‘Okay, hey, it’s time for him to play.’ It took him 600 to 900 days to become the Black Mamba.”
LeBron was another player who rated Hardaway very highly during his prime years. During a courtside appearance for a Lakers-Spurs game, LeBron was asked if he tries to mirror someone’s game. Although he admitted that he was trying to build his own identity in the league, LBJ said that people can see hints of Hardaway and Magic Johnson in his game.
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He said, “I never pattern my game after anybody but I can see flashes of Magic and Penny Hardaway, [who is] one of my favorite players.” LBJ has stated that the Orlando legend was one of his favorite players. Hardaway was also very respected by the veterans of the game in the 90s.
Michael Jordan wanted to pass the torch to Penny Hardaway
When Jordan rose to greatness in the ’90s, winning six titles, the biggest question in the league was who would take the league forward once he retired. During an interview with the great Julius Erving in 1996, Jordan was asked who would he pass the torch to if he had a choice. Jordan named several players on the list, including Hardaway.
He said, “Hardaway is a great pick because of his versatility and the things he can do with the ball, without the ball, defensively, to make his surrounding players better.”
MJ also named Grant Hill on the list of players who could be the potential future of the league. However, Jordan stated that he wasn’t ready to pass the torch to the next star in 1996.
Penny has all the achievements of a Hall of Famer
Hardaway made the All-NBA First Team twice. The first one was in his second season in the league.
Since 1967, only Larry Bird, Tim Duncan, and Luka Doncic have been the players who made the First Team in their sophomore season. The following year, Hardaway made it to the All-NBA First Team again. Hardaway had three total All-NBA selections to his name.
He was also a four-time All-Star, making his first All-Star appearance in 1995. He followed that up with three more All-Star-worthy campaigns, getting selected to the team every year till 1998.
Penny was on track to become one of the best players in the league and would have had a legacy as storied as some of his peers. Unfortunately, his career was marred by injuries. Not only did they ruin his chances of being the face of the NBA, but they also essentially ensured he’d be forgotten by the future generations.
Hardaway’s injuries
In the first five years of his career, Hardaway had the kind of hype around his name that was destined to make him a superstar. He was earning his stripes in the league and was getting major praise from legends of the game.
His Orlando Magic made the Finals in 2995 too, which was the first (and unfortunately last) Final appearance of his career. Along with Shaq, Penny and the Magic were one step away from the ultimate prize, but they ended up getting swept by the Houston Rockets. It was only the beginning of Hardaway’s career and he had everything going right for him. Everyone expected the Magic to be at the top of the NBA hierarchy for a while, but injuries had other plans.
Penny’s knee injury in the 1996 playoffs against the Pistons was the first big hit that he took in his career. Despite being aware that the injury was severe, Hardaway continued to play and later regretted his decision. During an appearance on The Point Forward podcast, he said, “When I had the microfracture, I knew it was instantly the worst decision I had made in my life.”
Although he underwent surgery for the same and recovered, he wasn’t the same player anymore. He said, “I could just tell I was different. It was taking me so long after the game to get out of the car. I knew then that something wasn’t right. I was never the same… It felt like my left knee got weaker…I could never get strong enough. It never got back as strong as the right.”
In December 2023, Hardaway received his first nomination to be inducted into the HOF, but he wasn’t selected to get in. A bad decision regarding his injury robbed Hardaway of his explosiveness, the same factor that propelled him to stardom so quickly.
Despite not having the career that he was prophesized to have, Penny Hardaway is still remembered fondly by the people who were lucky enough to witness his prime. While his case for the Hall of Fame has taken significant hits due to his injury history, there’s still a very solid resume under his name, and Hardaway deserves a spot in the hallowed halls in Massachusetts.
