{"id":723201,"date":"2026-05-01T21:21:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T21:21:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/723201\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T21:21:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T21:21:26","slug":"penny-hardaway-on-why-he-never-wanted-to-be-michael-jordans-teammate-that-was-unheard-of-when-i-was-playing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/723201\/","title":{"rendered":"Penny Hardaway on why he never wanted to be Michael Jordan’s teammate: “That was unheard of when I was playing”"},"content":{"rendered":"

During his prime years in the NBA, Penny Hardaway<\/a> was more than just an All-Star player. He was a cultural phenomenon wrapped in a 6\u20197\u201d frame. With a signature game that blended silkiness and explosiveness, Hardaway emerged as one of the biggest names in the sport in the \u201890s.<\/p>\n

Yet, beneath the flashy style of play, Penny was also a fierce competitor. In fact, one of his ultimate goals was to beat Michael Jordan<\/a>, the man who was dominating the entire league.<\/p>\n

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While the modern NBA era is defined by the \u201csuper team\u201d blueprint, Hardaway was forged in a different fire. He never even considered teaming up with MJ to form a super team, not even in his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I always wanted to play against those guys,\u201d Hardaway told<\/a> Magic.com. \u201cThat was unheard of when I was playing. You wanted to compete against Michael Jordan, because they were the best. You wanted to beat them. Never once in my mind, I went, \u201cI would love to play with him.\u201d I was always like \u201cman, we\u2019ve got to beat them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hardaway actually beat MJ<\/p>\n

With that in his mind, Hardaway anchored the Orlando Magic<\/a>\u2019s heart and grit. Along with fellow All-Star Shaquille O\u2019Neal, Penny led the expansion franchise to unprecedented heights.<\/p>\n

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In fact, in the 1995 playoffs, the NBA witnessed a tectonic shift no one had expected. Hardaway and the Magic upset the mighty Chicago Bulls<\/a> and shattered Jordan\u2019s invincibility, a feat that no other team had accomplished since the Bulls won their first NBA title in 1991.<\/p>\n

Shaq dominated the paint, leaving the Bulls helpless throughout the six-game series. However, for some fans, it was Hardaway\u2019s guts to go up against the best player in the world that truly deserved recognition.<\/p>\n

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Related: “Wemby is a goalie” – Giannis Antetokounmpo builds his soccer team consisting of only NBA players<\/a><\/p>\n

Penny had a change of heart about super teams<\/p>\n

Over time, Hardaway\u2019s perspective on super teams pivoted. In fact, the four-time All-Star once attempted to make an NBA return at age 39 and join a super team<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just throwing my name in the hat,\u201d Hardaway said<\/a> on ESPN\u2019s Outside The Lines in 2010. \u201cI\u2019m just one to put my name out there and say, hey, I would love to be one of the guys to be on that team. I just really hope that they give me a great opportunity to come back down and show that I can do the things that I did a couple years ago.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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By the time Penny walked away from the game in 2007, a cascading series of injuries had already stripped his athleticism. Yet in 2010, Penny claimed he was physically rejuvenated and still capable of contributing as a legitimate member of the Miami Heat<\/a>. This team had just signed LeBron James<\/a> and Chris Bosh<\/a> to form a Big 3 with Dwyane Wade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I could really be good in that system,\u201d Hardaway said of the 2010 Heat. \u201cI felt like with a minimal role of what they\u2019re trying to fill, a very small piece in a big puzzle, it doesn\u2019t really matter your age. If you can have a good influence on the team, whether it be in the locker room or on the floor, I feel like I can do that, that\u2019s why I really want to go back because I really feel like I can help that team.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite Penny\u2019s push to join the Heat, the call from Pat Riley never came. It marked a full-circle moment for a player who once saw teaming up with superstars as unheard of, highlighting just how much the league\u2019s culture had changed.<\/p>\n

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Related: Shaquille O’Neal admits not knowing who Penny Hardaway was during Blue Chips filming: “Who’s this actor?”<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Basketball Network<\/a> on May 1, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court<\/a> section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During his prime years in the NBA, Penny Hardaway was more than just an All-Star player. He was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":723202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,2604,572,185,189,935,6,76,5025],"class_list":["post-723201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-bulls","tag-basketball","tag-bulls","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-chicagobulls","tag-chris-bosh","tag-dwyane-wade","tag-lebron-james","tag-miami-heat","tag-michael-jordan","tag-nba","tag-orlando-magic","tag-penny-hardaway"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116501419315622141","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/723202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}