Top 100 NBA Players: #73

Anfernee Hardaway

(BBR: #78)

Nicknamed "Penny," Hardaway burst onto the scene just before Grant Hill, and was another of the young players expected to replace Michael Jordan as the league's new superstar, but unfortunately his career followed the path of Hill's more closely, with major injuries to his left knee shortening his career and prematurely knocking him from stardom.

As a rookie he was a pretty good player, putting up 16.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game while pairing with Shaquille O'Neal to lead the Orlando Magic to the first playoff berth in their history. The very next year he improved immensely, making the All-NBA First Team and helping guide the Magic to the NBA Finals for the first time, along the way knocking out Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, in what would be his final playoff series defeat.

He made a repeat appearance on the All-NBA First Team in his third season, somehow finding a way to improve his game again. He and Shaq put up some huge numbers together in those two seasons, both of which saw them make it to at least the Conference Finals. The averages from those two seasons are included below:

Shaq - 28.2 pts, 11.3 reb, 2.8 ast, 2.3 blk
Penny - 21.3 pts, 4.3 reb, 7.1 ast, 1.9 stl

Sadly, the pair only lasted three years together before Shaq left for Los Angeles, leaving Penny as the lone star in Orlando. The injuries started immediately, costing him 86 games over the next two seasons. He did have one more healthy season before leaving Orlando for Phoenix, but once again got hurt and missed 100 games over two seasons. He did manage to regain his star status for a couple years after his initial injury, but after the second major set of injuries he was never able to play at a star level again.

Penny's career graph doesn't look as impressive as Walker's, but his two-year peak early in his career with Orlando was at the same level Walker only reached for a single season, and his playoff success was much more impressive than Walker's, who was the #2 player on an Eastern Conference Final loser and 3rd-best player on a champion, while Penny was the #2 player on a Finals loser and on an Eastern Conference Final loser, both times with Shaq as the better player. Penny was also a First Team level player for two years, while Walker never made it that high. Once again, if Hardaway hadn't spent so much time injured, he could have been one of the top 20 players of all time, a discussion Walker would never have been in.