As he remains laser-focused on his professional commitments, hardly anyone can say Penny Hardaway is dealing with the most difficult period of his life. The NBA legend’s mother, Fae Hardaway is in a painful battle with cancer and Hardaway is her primary caretaker.

Hardaway is also coaching the Tigers of the University of Memphis. As any other college coach, he dealt with intense media scrutiny. Hence, he didn’t hold back when he appeared on The Voice of MSCS’ TaylorMade Sports on Thursday. The 53-year-old admitted that while he hadn’t half-stepped as a coach, he was not putting his mother on the backburner either.

Fae was diagnosed with throat cancer. The Orlando star didn’t elaborate on details about her treatment and severity. However, he talked about an incident last season which gave him a bit of a scare.

“I never let what they said about me bother me because I was so locked in on my mom, that I didn’t really care about the noise. It was already hard enough trying to win. It was difficult, because I came home from a shootaround, saw my mom laying on the floor, mouth twisted, knew she had a stroke,” Penny Hardaway said on the radio show.

Most would crumble in such a situation, but Hardaway was quick on his feet. He called his cousin to take his mother to the hospital and went to the Tigers game. And immediately after the game wrapped, he rushed to the hospital to see his mom. Amid all this, he faced criticism for the Tigers missing the NCAA Tournament berth despite a 15-2 start in the 2023-24 season.

Hardaway called out the media for using him as the scapegoat. But he was also immune to the criticism because the team trusted him. “So what the media was saying wasn’t bothering me. I spent from November to March at the hospital, and never used it as an excuse, never said, ‘My mom’s sick, I’m messed up.’ Because I still have a job,” Hardaway added.

Coaching appears to keep Hardaway grounded while he perseveres through his mother’s deteriorating health.

Penny Hardaway looks on the bright side

Memphis head coach revealed his mother was rushed to a local hospital while he was coaching in the 2022 ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando. She had to fly back to Memphis with the team, but the plane couldn’t take off on time. Doctors feared letting Fae out of the hospital. They discharged her only after she promised to go to a hospital in Memphis as soon as they landed.

As Fae keeps fighting cancer, Penny Hardaway often leaves between shootarounds and tip-offs to check on her. She suffered a stroke during one such check-in. But amid all this, Hardaway has stayed focused on his job, and his track record of two NCAA Tournament appearances and one AAC championship, since joining in 2018, speaks volumes of his performance as a coach.

Hardaway doesn’t worry about critics as long as the city, his team, and his family remain supportive. That’s all that matters to him.

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