Penny Hardaway’s Thoughtful Tribute to Shaq at Magic Jersey Ceremony Was All Class
The Hall of Fame center’s former teammate gave the Magic legend an incredible tribute.
On the night the Orlando Magic retired Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal’s jersey number and hung it in the rafters, former Magic point guard and current University of Memphis men’s basketball coach Penny Hardaway gave a touching tribute to his former teammate.
The duo played together for three seasons with Orlando in the 1990s.
“Big fella, my brother,” Hardaway began. “First off, man, I want to congratulate you tonight. It’s definitely deserving. But I want to go even further, not to only champion you, but the father you are, and the son that you are to your family right there,” Hardaway continued.
After praising the person O’Neal is off the floor, it didn’t take long for Hardaway to discuss how good O’Neal made him on the floor.
“You made me great, watching you become great,” Hardaway said. “There’s no way I’m making first-team All-NBA, there’s no way I make an All-Star team, there’s no way I win a gold medal at the ’96 Olympics with you, without having you be there to thrust me and keep driving me to the next level. So I owe my entire career to having you in my life.”
"You made me great watching you become great... I owe my entire career to having you in my life." ????@Iam1Cent's message to Shaq pic.twitter.com/WpEFLNkqC2
— NBA TV (@NBATV) February 14, 2024
Hardaway and O’Neal comprised of one of the league’s best one-two punches in the mid-’90s on the fast break.
The Magic were electric with the duo, which is often forgotten due to O’Neal’s extraordinary subsequent tenure with Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
But Hardaway never forgot his time with O’Neal and the impact that he made on him as a basketball player.