Hardaway, a Naismith nominee for first time
Penny Hardaway is officially a candidate for enshrinement into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The former NBA superstar was announced Friday as one of several additions to the list of first-year nominees, which includes Vince Carter, Bill Laimbeer, Rick Barnes, Mike Fratello, Walter Davis, Seimone Augustus, Penny Taylor and the 2008 U.S. Olympics men's basketball team. Nominees are added to the official ballot after a nomination form is submitted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame president and CEO.
Finalists for the Class of 2024 will be announced Feb. 16, during NBA All-star Weekend in Indianapolis. The entire Class of 2024 will be unveiled during the Final Four in Phoenix on April 6.
Hardaway, in his sixth season as Memphis basketball coach, is nominated for his achievements as a player. The Memphis native and Treadwell alum played two seasons for his hometown Tigers, leading them to an Elite Eight appearance in 1992 and claiming consensus All-america honors in 1993.
Hardaway made a seamless transition to the NBA, where he played 14 seasons and scored more than 10,000 points. He was taken with the No. 3 overall pick in 1993 and went on to play in four NBA all-star games as a member of the Orlando Magic. He was also a two-time ALL-NBA first-team selection.
In an interview with The Commercial Appeal in August, Hardaway said he believes he deserves to be in the hall of fame.
“If you're talking about pure play in my prime, I'm better than anybody,” Hardaway said. “You know there's guys that played less years than me that are in the Hall of Fame and I got the same stats. Doesn't bother me because of how they try to judge it. ‘If he wouldn't got hurt as early as he did, he would've been a surefire.' Like if I'd have had two more good years, then I'm probably in. I know I'm a Hall of Famer. I can play with any of those guys.”
Hardaway helped lead the Magic to the NBA Finals in 1995. Despite the Magic being swept by the Houston Rockets, Hardaway averaged 25.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in the series.
As coach at Memphis, Hardaway has led the Tigers to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, an NIT championship and an AAC tournament title. The Tigers are 10-2 this season and ranked 18th in the country.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or follow him @munzly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.