It was reported on Sunday that Penny Hardaway emerged as a serious candidate for the head coaching job with the Orlando Magic. Hardaway played for the Magic from 1993 until 1999 and was one of the greatest stars to ever put on a Magic uniform.
Hardaway was a four-time all-star and was named to the First-Team All NBA twice when he was playing in Orlando. He helped lead the Magic to their first NBA Finals appearance in 1995 along with Shaquille O’Neal.
The Magic feel like potentially hiring an Orlando legend could help rejuvenate the fanbase and organization. However, when Hardaway committed to Memphis, there was plenty of hype surrounding the move. He promised to put Memphis back on the map and instead hasn’t reached the NCAA Tournament in three seasons. Still, at Memphis, Hardaway has a record of 63-32 and has won 20 or more games in every season he’s coached at Memphis. He was having more success than former head coach Tubby Smith, who had won a National Championship with Kentucky previously.
At this point, the Magic have interviewed former Blazers head coach Terry Stotts along with Nuggets assistant Wes Unseld Jr. and former Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson. While Hardaway seems like the perfect fit for the Magic, it’s hard to imagine him leaving Memphis so soon. On June 5, Jeff Weltman, the team’s president of basketball operations talked about candidates they would see fit. When asked about coaching experience, he said it was an important component but not a necessity. Hardaway only has college coaching experience but that should be enough to get a job in the NBA.
“It’s an important component, for sure, and if you are going to hire someone without that experience, there have to be other strengths that you’re saying, ‘Well, we’re trusting that this will develop because we’ve seen X, Y, Z,” Weltman said. “As you lay it all out, not everybody is going to have everything.
“So, it’s really, and I always come back to this, it’s the person, it’s the fit, it’s the connection and that’s largely what defines a good coach, the ability to connect with the players. For sure, it’s something we’ll be weighing and considering, but that’s not, by a longshot, to say that we won’t hire someone without that experience.”
But here’s the thing. Hardaway doesn’t have any coaching experience where it matters. He’s coming off an NIT championship, not an NCAA championship. Weltman continued to talk about Penny when asked if he was a candidate.
“I don’t know Penny. I know that, obviously, he’s been a superstar NBA player and he’s part of the Orlando Magic fabric, so obviously we regard him with great respect,” Weltman said June 5. “I think he’s shown to be a talented coach early on in his coaching career, but beyond that, I will not get into discussing names or specifics as we go forward … I will not confirm or deny coaching candidates we are involved with.”
From the quote, it seems likely that Hardaway is the clear favorite. Weltman says he doesn’t know him but then shares a bunch of quality traits about the coach. However, Penny downplayed leaving Memphis when he was asked. A little smoke screen, if I can add.
“I’m flattered by it because people are even mentioning my name, obviously because of the relationship I’ve had with the Magic over the years,” Hardaway said. “It’s weird because the timing on it is, I’m now just starting to get into my own as Tigers coach and understand everything that comes along with this and then all of a sudden the Magic job, the people start talking about the Magic job.
“So it’s weird, but my heart is in Memphis. I don’t know what happens in the future. If I did coach in the NBA, that would be a place I would want to coach so, we’ll see.”
This is what all college coaches say when they’re ready to leave and move on to professional sports. He doesn’t want to hurt recruiting just yet because if he announced he was ready to leave for the NBA, he would lose his players’ commitment and trust. But he didn’t rule out going to coach for the Magic, which means, he’s certainly thinking about it and likes the idea. Hardaway mentioned he was just starting to feel good about his job at Memphis. Now he’s going to leave if Orlando gives him the job.
So yes, he’s seriously going to leave Memphis after never making an NCAA Tournament. It’s crazy how it works like that.