Shaquille O’Neal’s Jersey Retirement: Only Regret Revealed by Former Teammate

You can’t have Orlando Magic‘s big night for Shaq without Penny Hardaway. He’s Shaquille O’Neal‘s first on-court partner and someone O’Neal dubbed his “Kobe before Kobe.” They were a force to be reckoned with, leading the fledgling NBA team to playoffs and finals. When Hardaway got to take the stage on the night the Magic retired Shaq’s number 32, the 4x All-Star made his old friend emotional with his speech.

Penny was overwhelmed with memories of everything they achieved together. But he holds one regret over something he couldn’t share with Shaq. Hardaway said to his former teammate, “[I] wanted to win a championship with you so bad,” which made O’Neal visibly emotional. Shaq himself has expressed his regret he came close many times but couldn’t win his beloved first franchise a championship.

Hardaway arrived the year after Shaq and they were teammates for three seasons. During that time, they made the Finals once, marking the Magic’s first appearance on the NBA’s biggest stage. Mere days ago, Hardaway admitted that it hurt to see the Shaq go on to win three championships with Kobe Bryant. He told GQ that he was an “introvert” compared to Bryant and felt that if Shaq remained in Magic, they would’ve surely won a championship together.

Penny Hardaway expressed that the regret didn’t stop him from being happy for Shaq. “I knew that you were going to keep going higher and higher every year because that’s how you drove yourself. But you also drove me in the same way. You made me great watching you become great.”

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Both Penny and Shaq would recall through their speeches tonight how their iconic partnership would be formed. As history goes, Rookie of the Year Shaq made his movie debut in Blue Chips also starring his future teammate, Penny Hardaway. Shaq was so impressed by the “actor” who kept passing to him, he urged the team to sign him in the draft.

Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway’s unending partnership

Magic engineered some tricky maneuvers to get Hardaway in 1993. They initially signed Chris Webber, a move that Shaq said made him so mad, “I tore my damn house up.” But after trading Webber and some draft picks, they got Penny. In their first season as partners, they took Orlando – a team that had only formed in 1989 – to the 1994 playoffs. Following it up in 1995, they were in the finals and in 1996, the ECF.

In a video montage, Hardaway acknowledged that, “Without you [O’Neal], I wouldn’t have been in Orlando originally to be able to play with you, man, and have my game go to another level, with the first team All NBAs.” He further said he’s “indebted” to Shaq for taking him to the Finals in his early career.

Ahead of the ceremony, O’Neal told him, “A lot of my success comes from you, because you took care of me, you made me look good.” When it was Shaq’s turn at the mic, he called his main teammates to the podium, including Penny. One day, he’s sure he’d be back to retire #1.

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