“He came to my room and was like ‘I apologize bro’”: Penny Hardaway admits being taken aback by the news of Shaquille O'Neal’s departure from Orlando
Former NBA player Penny Hardaway learned about his broken partnership with Shaquille O'Neal at Orlando Magic through the media. Jerry West had poached the 7-foot-1 center to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996 after the Orlando Magic failed to offer a max contract, which Shaq felt he deserved. The big man was also under constant scrutiny by the Magic beat writers and young fans, who put his free throw struggles against his desires.
The Memphis Tigers coach recounted being taken aback by learning about Shaq's departure on the "Knuckleheads" podcast released on Tuesday. Hardaway also revealed additional insights into his bond with O'Neal, citing that the center personally apologized for not informing him later on.
"I'm sitting in the press conference in Atlanta with all the international media plus the American media, all the media there, it's so many media people and this guy, I don't know what country he was from, he was like, 'how does it feel not to have Shaquille O'Neal as a teammate anymore?'" Penny Hardaway said (53:35).
"I didn't know that, I was like if that's the case then that would be devastating and then I'm looking around at Scotty (Dennis Scott) and (Horace) Grant, they looking at me and bro after that was over, I found out that Shaq had left. That's the way I found out. And he came to my room the next day and was like, 'I apologize bro, but I had to do it,' and I was done."
Penny Hardaway and Orlando Magic's potential dropped after losing Shaquille O'Neal
Penny Hardaway understood the contributions Shaquille O'Neal had to the Magic's success. Moreover, their duo was considered one of the best at the time. Penny's slippery game style and dynamic playmaking paired perfectly with Shaq's dominant inside presence.
With that, Hardaway claims that Orlando's caliber faced a factory reset to its early expansion days.
"We went straight to where we started bro, it was like an expansion team all over again. It was like, damn bro, we went from the Beatles to just being just some dude that was trying to make it like we trying to give you our mixtape. It went that bad," he said (54:55).
The Magic's last season with Shaq resulted in a 60-win regular season record and championship-contending playoff run. In their first year without O'Neal, Orlando dropped to just 45 wins in regulation and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
On the other hand, Shaquille O'Neal helped the Lakers to a 56-win season and a Western Conference Semifinals appearance in 1997.