Shaquille O’Neal‘s arrival in Los Angeles meant the end of his fruitful partnership with point guard Penny Hardaway on the Orlando Magic. The one-two punch guided the franchise to the 1995 NBA Finals, and even though they lost to the mighty Houston Rockets, they got the respect of their peers and the basketball world.
Shaq and Penny’s first playoff duel came in the 2000 Western Conference Finals. O’Neal was proudly donning the Lakers’ Purple & Gold, while Hardaway was representing the Phoenix Suns. Ahead of the hotly anticipated duel, the former teammates reflected on their time in Orlando and how they almost continued their partnership in Los Angeles.
West says no
When O’Neal inked the lucrative seven-year, $121 million contract in 1996, he wasn’t just thinking of the Lakers, the money, and winning multiple championships. Shaq was also thinking about Penny.
Even though they failed to win it all in Orlando, their relative success was too monumental to ignore. The two had no problems with one another, and so O’Neal felt they just needed a different environment to unleash their full powers. However, too many factors came into play. Shaquille may have had some leverage, but Lakers general manager Jerry West had the final say.
“He wanted me to sign with the Lakers,” Hardaway said in 2000 via the Los Angeles Times. “But I was asking for too much money.”
“Jerry West wasn’t going for that. He didn’t think I was worth it. There were a lot of teams out there that didn’t think I was worth the max. And that drives me every day,” he added.
Great chemistry
If the terms of the deal worked in his favor, Penny wouldn’t have hesitated to join Shaq in the Lakers — acknowledging the major differences in personality and lifestyle. O’Neal enjoyed the limelight while Hardaway preferred to remain private. What kept them together was their love for hoops and winning, and it was enough.
“Shaq and I were just two totally different people,” Hardaway said. “He was an outgoing, music, movie type of guy. I was more inside, or playing golf, or whatever. That was it. We never hung out off the floor, but we got along well on the floor, and that’s all that matters.”
“There was never a feud between me and him,” Shaq explained. “I never said anything to Penny, and Penny never said anything to me. Penny goes his way, I went my way, but we’re still good friends.”
O’Neal has suggested on many occasions that if he stayed with the Magic and Hardaway, they would’ve won multiple titles. Shaq reiterated how Penny was so talented and NBA-ready that he already helped guide Orlando to the NBA Finals at such a young age. The team would’ve won multiple titles if it hadn’t been for the injuries, and had the Magic kept building around them.
It’s one of the many what-ifs in the NBA. If Penny had remained healthy and followed Shaq to L.A., would they have still created a dynasty? What would’ve happened to the great Kobe Bryant? We’ll never know the answer, but it doesn’t hurt to fantasize.