By: Tripp Vistica
January 28, 2020
Anfernee, Penny, Hardaway once said, “That should’ve been me winning those championships with you.” Penny made this comment on an ESPN 30 FOR 30 documentary to Shaquille O’Neil. The name of the documentary was called, “This Magic Moment”, and it centered around how the Orlando Magic acquired Shaq with the first pick in the draft in 1992. The Magic got lucky again by getting the first pick in the 1993 NBA Draft as well. The Magic selected Chris Webber, but immediately traded him to the Golden State Warriors in return for Penny Hardaway, 1993’s #2 overall draft pick, and cash.
With Shaq and Penny, the Orlando Magic had meteoric rise in the NBA. They won their division in their first season in 1994 and made the NBA Finals in 1995. However, Shaq was a free agent after the 1995 season, and the Orlando Magic tried to low ball him in his contract. The Los Angeles Lakers did not. Laker’s General Manager and NBA Hall of Fame Laker legend, Jerry West, wasted no time and worked hard to acquire Shaq from the Magic.
Jerry West signed Shaq to the Lakers on July 18, 1996, but that was only half of the Lakers plans. Jerry West and the Lakers had their eye on a 17-year old kid from Philadelphia that was foregoing college to enter the 1996 NBA Draft, and the Lakers were stopping at nothing to acquire him. That kid was Kobe Bryant. Kobe was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets, but immediately traded to the Lakers, like the Magic did for Penny with the Warriors. It did not take long for Kobe and Shaq to jell and start dominating the NBA. It took only four seasons for them to win their first NBA Championship, and the championships did not stop there. The Lakers would win the next two, giving them three championships in a row.
After the 2004 season, Shaq left the Lakers for the Miami Heat and the Lakers had to start rebuilding. It only took four seasons for Kobe and the Lakers to make it back to the NBA Finals. They lost that year to the Boston Celtics in six games, but Kobe would go on to lead the Lakers to winning the 2009 NBA Finals versus the Orlando Magic. In the 2010 season, Kobe made himself a legend in the NBA by leading the Lakers in defending their NBA Championship and this time it was a rematch against the Celtics, and the Lakers – Celtics rivalry is the biggest rivalry in the NBA. Kobe would lead the Lakers to winning the 2010 NBA Finals in seven games. He was named NBA Finals MVP in 2009 and in 2010. He now had won five NBA Championships, two NBA Finals MVP’s, to go along with being an 18 time All-Star during his 20 seasons in the NBA.
My biggest question is what did Penny do that was anything close to what Kobe accomplished on the basketball court? How many championships did Penny win? Penny was never named the NBA’s MVP, but Kobe was. After all the stats I’ve mentioned, and all of Kobe’s accomplishment’s as basketball player, I don’t understand how Penny can compare himself to Kobe. I am upset that after Sunday’s tragedy, Penny did not comment on his comments in the ESPN documentary. Why won’t he apologize, explain what he meant, or just say that he should’ve never compared himself to Kobe, and imply that Kobe stole three NBA Championships from him. Why can’t Penny man-up and admit his comments were inappropriate, because they could be easily misconstrued. In my opinion, Penny needs to apologize for that comment, but I want to know why he hasn’t apologized or even acknowledged that his comments were inappropriate. At the very least, why hasn’t Penny given an explanation concerning his comments in the documentary?
What’s stopping Penny from taking back his comments? Is it Penny’s ego? Is Penny scared? What is Penny’s reason for not acknowledging that he inadvertently made comments diminishing Kobe’s accomplishments in a documentary for ESPN? I want to know, but we don’t always get what we want.
In my opinion, Penny’s silence suggests signs of denial concerning his comments in ESPN’s 30 FOR 30 documentary “This Magic Moment” about Kobe and the NBA Championships he won with Shaq for the Lakers.
Tripp Vistica 