Penny Hardaway Announces Desire to Return to NBA
It may seem like a bizarre joke or perhaps news from 2005, but Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway would like to return to the National Basketball Association for the Miami Heat.
The 39-year-old Hardaway announced that he would like to come out of retirement in order to play for the Heat next season. Hardaway feels that he would be great in a backup point guard position and would play well in a system with Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade.
At the conference, Hardaway said: “Mentally I was retired and physically I was retired. I was playing recreational ball. But when the decision happened with Chris Bosh and LeBron, I felt like I could really be good in that system.
“I can understand where Michael Jordan was coming from coming out of retirement a couple times, I can understand where Brett Favre is right now. When you still have something in the tank it’s really hard to let it go.
“I love basketball and I didn’t get a chance to finish my career the way I wanted.”
The four-time All-Star last played in the NBA in 2007, with the Miami Heat. He had a subtle, yet tremendous impact on the NBA. He was an oversized point guard and his success at the position has encouraged teams to use atypical players for point guard roles, a la Hedo Turkoglu for the Orlando Magic in 2008-09. His flashy style of play also influenced many current players following the sport as kids. Players like Joe Johnson, Gilbert Arenas, and super-signing James have all publicly stated that they idolized Hardaway growing up
While it is hard to say anything negative about Hardaway, this announcement is preposterous. First off, Hardaway is in no capacity to play NBA-level basketball again. Hardaway never managed to recover from a serious knee injury sustained during the 1997-98 season. He never quite recovered his fast-paced style of play and settled for a role player position. Even then Hardaway was oft-injured and downright useless.
While he certainly could play well with Miami’s Big Three to some extent, any person with a basic knowledge of the NBA rulebook could, he simply is not physically fit for an NBA season. The NBA’s tempo is much higher than it was during Hardaway’s days. He was considered fast in his prime, but by contemporary standards Hardaway was average even at his best. His knees could not handle the stress of modern NBA play and other guards would dominate him offensively.
Hardaway should also be a little wiser in comparing himself to people like Michael Jordan and Brett Favre. Both Jordan and Favre are champions in their sport and were the leaders of their winning teams. Hardaway’s prime was spent dishing passes to Shaquille O’Neal and Hardaway did not manage to be a part of any NBA Finals winning teams.
If Michael Jordan tells reporters he has something left in the tank, his greatness implies that this might still make him better than a majority of players in the NBA. Favre came back last season and immediately led the Minnesota Vikings to a Conference Final. What exactly does a player with a career average of 15.2 ppg and a final NBA year statline of 3.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists & 1.19 steals per game have left?
No one blames Hardaway for his last ditch effort to return and win a championship with the NBA’s now most prominent contenders. Realistically, Hardaway needs to simply accept the end of his career and move on.
He will forever be revered for his contributions to the NBA, and his legacy would only be tarnished if he were to return to the NBA. No one with fond memories of Hardaway’s prime wants to see him get absolutely demolished by the fit young current NBA guards. Hardaway should continue having fun in the recreational leagues rather than suffer through the physical pain and embarrassment he'd receive if he came back now.
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