Penny Hardaway Is THE MOST Overrated Athlete In The History Of NT vol.childhoods got ruined

[vsano]

Originally Posted by 940sicc3

Originally Posted by bostonmarc


I was as big as a Penny fan as there was....In the early 90's when he was still at Memphis State. Saw him play on TV watching some random game at my uncles house in like 1991 and was hooked . Reason why I wore # 25 in junior high. My favorite college player of that era. I had a Memphis State hat long before he touched an NBA court. The guys skill level was off the charts. Don't know if overated was the right word, but his career was taken away from him. We never got to see him in the peak of his career.Sky was the limit for him. Career would have been much better than a guy like T Mac. And IMO would be in the same breath as a guy like Scottie Pippen. Able to do a little of everything on the court.

Grant Hill is a similar story. He had a high bball IQ , great atnletic ability and skill level. We never got to see his full potential either. Those 2 guys would have been first team all NBA for years IMO if healthy

came back in here to say this. i think Hill would have had the better career if anything
  

Very true. They really had that exceptional talent that could surpass many NBA players but health issues got in the way. These two guys have been so exciting to watch & have this Jordan aura too. Highly marketable, that is,without trying too hard.

 

[ldj]

Originally Posted by goldenchild9

Originally Posted by LDJ

Originally Posted by goldenchild9

How you bringing Stockton and Nash in the convo?

GP never even averaged double digit assists. Nash did 6 times (still playing) and Stockton did 10 times.
I'm talking about Penny and GP. Penny was bigger, stronger, more athletic, a better scorer from all angles, more efficient in every offensive category, and had greater overall potential. Like I showed, It took GP years to achieve the same type of output that Penny had in his couple first seasons. 

Exactly all those things you said about gp can be said about stockton.nash,gp.paul,d.will,j kidd if your going off stats athleticism and output first few seasons is why I brought it up.

  

But they're all different players. Stockon, Nash and Kidd are all pure PGs, their assist numbers and team management blow Penny and GP out of the water. I would never compare or lump them together. But Gary was more of a balanced guard and scorer...aWestbrook type player, so the comparison to Penny is fairer IMO. 
If you were a GM and had to pick between a healthy Penny for 10 seasons or a healthy Payton for 10 seasons, who you going with?

Cantt cause one of them it never happened so.... Also if you mean as far as both rookies being drafted then obviously id go with a 6'7 pg who just came out of college and regarded as one the best out the draft over a small market guy like gp, hell same would be said about stockton coming outta gonzaga and seeded so low in the draft, not to mention being a short unathletic frail kid. But as we can see we all know who had better careers. Yes hindsight but still
  

 

[stoneyjax]

Originally Posted by goldenchild9

You gotta separate the perception of his career from that of his merchandise.

Foams are 1 of the best sneakers in sneaker history, Penny's basketball career is not parallel to that of his footwear.

90% of the time people on NT are speaking on Penny's merchandise, not his career.

When we do speak of his career, we are talking about what was and what could have been, in that aspect ain't nothing overrated about what homie brought to the table.

Everyone knows that he didn't have a HoF career but he certainly had the potential to be a HoFer.

the realest talk

the ppl who are discrediting Penny are the only ones bringing up his shoes

before the injury ... as far as guards go... he was second only to MJ

 

[SneakerProSr.]

I need to know how Penny was ever better than Grant Hill.

 

[statis22]

Peak Grant Hill was better than peak Penny.

 

[caerus]

Originally Posted by presequel

its true. its nostalgia. i dont think anyone can deny he was talented, but some people act like he was as good as mj, magic, kobe, or even tmac.

word

 

[mrdills]

Penny was a heavy influence on the game. Alot of younger players say that he was their favorite player. I know he was mine.

 

[xtapolapacetl]

This is probably the story behind OP:

Born some time in the 90s and never saw Penny play.
Saw a bunch of appreciation threads about Penny here.
Went to look up his stats.
Concludes he wasn't that good.

I'm as annoyed about the weekly Penny appreciation thread on this forum as the next guy, but the fact is that the guy was mad good. Having Jordan and Pippen taking turns defending him and not being able to guard him type of good.

 

[uptownsdotnetstacky]

Originally Posted by 940sicc3

came back in here to say this. i think Hill would have had the better career if anything
  

Buffoonery

 

[calibeebee]

Originally Posted by UptownsDotNetStacky

Originally Posted by 940sicc3

came back in here to say this. i think Hill would have had the better career if anything
  

Buffoonery

watch old highlight vids of penny. lame as hell.  then watch old grant hill highlight vids.  Grant hill was ill as @!!!.  yall must have forgot.  grant was a LEGIT superstar.

 

[uptownsdotnetstacky]

Yea because Im not from Detroit and watched the Pistons my whole life

....and you just proved you don't know what the hell you're saying, you can't compare players off of some cheap @%* final cut pro highlight tape made in someone's basement between fap sessions

 

[halfkobe08]

okay enough

Penny was my second fav player behind MJ in the 90's like alotta yall.

he isn't overrated cuz that mothereff can hoop, before his peak he already destroyed 90% of the PGs, imagine that

OP clearly knew about Penny through Wikipedia

 

[airuphere23]

I wouldn't call Penny Hardaway "overrated", I'd just call him cheated... His inability to withstand injuries in his career is basically what tarnished his legacy. He was undoubtedly, one of the premier players in the NBA in the mid 90's and it's evident when you watch some of his old highlights.

I, like most people, wish he had a long and enduring career but this man was super smooth when he played in Orlando. I even remember getting the OG Air Max Penny 1's for Christmas over the Concord XI's that same year.

I admired his game that much that I chose his sneakers over the epic Jordan Concord XI's.

Dude was one of a kind...loved his game.

 

[mjsaver]

I was never a fan of penny's , but even I could see the potential for greatness and how good he was when healthy.

OP is clearly bias and just wanted to ruffle some dudes feathers and clearly he accomplished that. OP don't make the mistake of letting 10 or 20 obsessed fans speak for the ENTIRE niketalk. ( thousands of people )

And please don't pretend ALL great players were good at EVERY aspect of the game. Penny had the necessary tools to be an elite player at his position and when he was healthy that's exactly what he did.

 

[Mound Raised]

#25 >>> #1

 

[seymore cake]

A lot of people in this thread never saw those 1st 4 seasons in Orlando, they saw him in Pho or NY if they even saw him at all so I don't really put too much stock in their opinions/rants.

I remember watching him destroy teams, I remember him dominating in the playoffs like X said I watched Phil switching Mike & Pip (the two greatest perimeter defenders of all time) on and off of him and him still doing WORK two years straight in only his 2nd & 3rd yr in the league. Those who actually saw him play/played against him during that brief period understood the possible trajectory his career was expected to take. He was projected to be and All Pro for the duration of his career and one of the best to do by analyst, players, pundits, & fans alike during that time and that's based on his performance in between the baselines & sidelines not the swoosh.

 

[TheGift23]

Originally Posted by UptownsDotNetStacky

Yea because Im not from Detroit and watched the Pistons my whole life

....and you just proved you don't know what the hell you're saying, you can't compare players off of some cheap @%* final cut pro highlight tape made in someone's basement between fap sessions

 

[tennhouse2]

Originally Posted by UptownsDotNetStacky

Originally Posted by 940sicc3

came back in here to say this. i think Hill would have had the better career if anything
  

Buffoonery

penny was no where close to as good as Hill

 

[franchise3]

I agree with the dudes saying Peak Hill > Peak Penny + Peak TMac > Peak Penny

Boo hoo about the injuries.

I could say the same about TMac, but a lot of ya'll would still slander the dude.

 

[thegoldenchild]

Originally Posted by TennHouse2

Originally Posted by UptownsDotNetStacky

Originally Posted by 940sicc3

came back in here to say this. i think Hill would have had the better career if anything
  

Buffoonery

penny was no where close to as good as Hill

yes he was. he was a superstar and on the same level as grant hill. but it's hard to compare players, since both had very different roles on the team. where penny had shaq, grant hill was the entire team, no wonder his numbers were off the charts. but like i said, if jordan gives penny praise for being a great player, who are all you scrubs saying penny is overrated?
  

 

[got shoes]

A lot of hatred for Penny in here, but i guarantee most of ya'll never even seen the man play. Some of ya'll are judging off video clips. He was the second coming of Magic until the injuries.

 

[VinMillerHearn58]

I read the title of this thread and said "This dude just opened up the flood gates." Just be happy you didn't put Jordan's name in the title. 

 

[size 15 please]

OP lost his mind. Penny was that dude. My favorite player of the 90s besides MJ

 

[goldenchild9]

Penny and Grant had virtually identical numbers, impact and ability...the big difference was, Grant was a much better rebounder and slasher & Penny was a far superior passer and outside shooter.

At the time they were both looked at as future mega-stars, poised to fill MJ's position as the leagues top dog. But before the injury, Penny had a slightly higher perception in the media and with the fans because he had reached to the Finals in such a short time. As soon as he got injured and his production slipped, Grant began getting all the SI cover stories and the position as heir apparent...until he got broken up shortly after. Grant didn't show that he was a better player than Penny, but he did last 2 seasons longer...thats probably where the perceptions of him being > come from.

People forget that Penny was one of the first young stars to undergo that micro-fracture surgery. That was a big deal at the time. It was viewed as the "Tommy John surgery" of basketball and rightfully so. Chris Webber's HoF bound career got derailed by micro-fracture as well. So did Allan Houston's and T-Mac's (eerie how much Tracy's career echoed Penny's). Its a testament to Amar'e Stoudamire's freakish strength, athleticism and resolve, that he was able to get the surgery recently and maintain a significant amount of athleticism and elite ability.

At the end of the day, its bugged out how both Grant and Penny had their greatness snatched from them by injuries. The sports world got robbed of 2 prodigies and the NBA lost out on a whole era of greatness.

There are only 5 players in league history to score at least 4,000 pts, dish 1,500 assists and grab 1,000 rebounds in their first 3 seasons...Westrook, CP3, LeBron, The Big O and Penny Hardaway.