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Magic Legend Penny Hardaway Talks Injuries, GOAT Conversation He Could've Been In

Penny Hardaway's career started on Hall of Fame trajectory with the Orlando Magic before injuries whittled away at his playing days. Now, as he admitted in an NBA Radio interview on Tuesday, he still awaits a Hall of Fame call and wonders what could've been.

Mason Williams

Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and Michael Jordan.
Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and Michael Jordan. /
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When considering the 35-year history of the Orlando Magic, few – if any – players have been as skilled as Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway. 

But in the same breath, coupled with an unfortunate injury history and other circumstances that derailed his career, Hardaway also is one of the biggest “what-ifs” to ever suit up for the Magic.

Starting in his rookie year of 1993, Hardway quickly racked up accolades: All-Star in three of his first four seasons, three All-NBA nods, MVP votes, an Olympic gold medal, and an appearance in the NBA Finals. 

But in year five, Hardaway suffered a left knee injury that required surgery – the second significant surgery to his lower body at that point in his career. He was never again the same player.

These days, Hardaway is still well-known around the NBA despite his duties as the head coach of the University of Memphis basketball team, his alma mater. During an interview on the Aug. 27 edition of “NBA Today” with Gerald Brown and Sam Mitchell on SiriusXM NBA Radio, Hardaway was posed with a familiar question: Does he ever think about what could’ve been if it wasn’t for the injuries?

Hardaway, as always, was candid and transparent in his response.

“As I look at my career, yeah, I look at that and say, man, if I wouldn’t have got hurt going into the ’97-’98 season, what could have been?” Hardaway said. “I definitely feel like at my pace I was going, I could have done some phenomenal things and been in the conversation of being the GOAT with Michael (Jordan), Kobe (Bryant), LeBron (James), and all those guys. It’s just unfortunate that I got hurt. 

Penny Hardaway dribbles away from Michael Jordan.
Penny Hardaway dribbles away from Michael Jordan. / Orlando Magic

“But I think about it often, especially now with all these older videos coming up on YouTube and a lot of videos coming through social media with my old highlights. Man, there wasn’t many people – and I’m not just bragging – God-given talent of height, speed, athleticism, shooting ability, post-ups … it’s not many people that had that entire package.

“There were dogs, and there were guys that could score it, defend, rebound. But to be able to do all of that was what’s special, man. I think about it for sure; when they start talking about the greats, when people utter stuff like, ‘Penny wasn’t a top-50 player,’ that stuff, it rubs me the wrong way because my injuries definitely derailed me.”

Hardaway also acknowledged that his injury troubles were partly a byproduct of his unrelenting nature to be in the gym whenever possible. 

Time away was time wasted. That’s just how he was wired.

“All I did was play ball, all day, all night,” Hardaway said. “I never took time off. That’s another reason why I started getting injured and stayed injured, because as soon as the season was over, I got back to Memphis and started hooping with the boys. I went to Houston with John Lucas and started hooping with the Rockets and everybody. I never really had to get ready for training camp because I never – as soon as the season was over, I took no time off. I didn’t go on vacations. I loved ball that much.

“That’s the main reason why I had six knee surgeries as well, because once I started having the surgeries, I still loved to hoop.”

In Orlando, Hardaway entered a situation set for success. Just a year removed from selecting Shaquille O’Neal with the first overall pick in 1992, in which Diesel had turned in perhaps the most impressive rookie season ever recorded, Orlando found itself at the top of Penny’s draft again in 1993. With the help of Hardaway’s role alongside O'Neal in the movie “Blue Chips,” the Magic pulled off one of the largest draft-night shakeups the NBA has ever seen – acquiring Hardaway and three future first-round picks from Golden State in exchange for Chris Webber to make the fictional film teammates a reality.

Michael Jordan was off playing minor-league baseball. The East was up for grabs. From the jump, Hardway had title gold on his mind.

“The mindset was always championship. Especially when I had Shaq there,” Hardaway continued. “When Shaq was there, it was all about championships. When Shaq left, it was really about winning. ‘Let’s get as many wins as we can and do what we do.’

More: Shaquille O'Neal apologizes to Penny Hardaway, Reveals Reason for Leaving Magic

Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway.
Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway. / NBAE/Getty Images

“When you’re on a team that can win it, and then you got a team that just gonna win a few games, you can talk all you want about, ‘Hey, let’s go win an NBA championship.’ If you know you don’t have a roster, that’s all a lie.”

Those championship dreams never came to be. After the 4-0 loss to Houston in the 1995 Finals, O’Neal’s departure to Los Angeles in 1996 and the accumulating injuries, Hardaway was traded to Phoenix following the 1998-99 season.

Hardaway averaged 19.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.9 steals over 369 regular-season games with the Magic. In 45 playoff games, his scoring output jumped to 21.0 points a game while maintaining similar or identical rebound, assist and steal numbers.

Hardaway was on an early trajectory for a certain Hall of Fame career and numerous more accolades along the way. Instead, while he still waits for the call to Springfield, he can’t help but wonder what could have been.

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Mason Williams
MASON WILLIAMS

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