Penny Hardaway Speaker & Booking Information

Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway was born July 18, 1971, in Memphis, Tennessee and is a former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), specializing as a small forward, shooting guard, and point guard. His most productive years came in his days as a member of the Orlando Magic as well as the early portion of his stint with the Phoenix Suns. Hardaway was an all-NBA player early in his career, but was plagued by constant injuries which gradually reduced his effectiveness. He last played for the Miami Heat, who released him December 12, 2007.

Penny was selected by the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 1993 NBA Draft (third pick overall), but was traded along with three future first-round picks to the Orlando Magic for the rights to first overall pick Chris Webber. He started out the season at the shooting guard position while he learned the point guard position from veteran Scott Skiles. By mid-season he took over point guard duties from Skiles. He immediately made an impact on the league, winning the MVP award at the inaugural Schick Rookie Game. Hardaway helped the Magic to their first playoff berth and first fifty-win season. He averaged 16 points, 6.6 assists, 5.4 rebounds per game while his 190 steals ranked 6th in the league. He recorded his first career triple double on April 15 when he registered 14 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds against the Boston Celtics. For his efforts he was named to the NBA All-Rookie first team and was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year to Chris Webber.

Hardaway's style of play was rare in the early 1990s. Players of his height were encouraged to play closer to the basket and often were not ball handlers. He was a pass-first point guard who could score like a shooting guard. Hardaway was too big for most point guards to defend and too fast for shooting guards to defend. Hardaway was also an underrated defender who finished in the top six in steals on three occasions. Hardaway's versatility and size set him apart from many other players of his era. He was the only player during the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons to average 20+ points 5+ assists and shoot above 50% on field goals. Early in his career Hardaway's flashy style of play was the closest thing the NBA had seen to Magic Johnson since his retirement. After the departure of Shaquille O'Neal in 1996 Hardaway's role changed to that of the primary scorer. Hardaway continued his role as a shooting guard in the early part of his stint with the Phoenix Suns. Later in his career injuries limited Hardaway's style to that of a versatile, smart role player who was a steady influence on younger players.

Hardaway's popularity reached its peak in the summer of 1996 as he was coming off two consecutive All-NBA first team selections and a selection to the USA Olympic Team. In addition he had the most popular basketball shoe on the market complete with the "Lil' Penny" commercial campaign for Nike, featuring a tiny puppet voiced by Chris Rock.

Many NBA players such as LeBron James, Gilbert Arenas, Joe Johnson, Tracy McGrady, Hakim Warrick, Tyreke Evans, Trevor Ariza, Rawle Marshall,and Antonio Burks have said that they idolized Hardaway when they were growing up.

Many of the shoes in Hardaway's signature shoe line, "Air Penny", have been reissued over the years as a testament to his popularity. The Nike Air Penny signature line includes the Air Penny I, Air Penny II, Air Penny III, Air Penny IV, as well as the Nike Air Foamposite One and the Nike 1/2 Cent that both featured Penny's "1 cent" logo on the shoe.