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I've been watching all the previous years' drafts on NBATV over the last few days.

I had no idea that Penny was shot in the foot during his college career.
<<Patiently waiting, Hardaway was struck with tragedy in April of 1991 when he was shot in the foot while being robbed. Hardaway missed summer workouts, but was ready when practice opened on Oct. 15 with the bullet still lodged in his foot. On Oct. 26, the bullet was removed after it had shifted to a spot that was advantageous for removal. Hardaway was back to 100 percent, but still a little rusty after all the missed time.>>

Wow i had no idea. I was also watching other drafts on NBATV, i saw the 1987? one. Then one when David Robinson and Scottie Pippen came out. To my shock, they compared Pippen to Dennis Rodman. They said Pippen was a lil smoother though (not shocking lol). I was blown away though by the comparison. Its funny to look back at how the analyst thougth the players would be like and how they actually turned out.

Haha, I watched that one yesterday. Interesting that he was "Scot" Pippen back then and not Scottie too.

When Hardaway was a Magic rookie, there was a considerable effort for the O-Sen to hype Penny's rags-to-riches story. There was ample press then on his assult. Also, with Blue Chips, the advert plan hyped up how Penny overcame a rough background.

What was interesting at that time is what hops he had given the severity of the injury. Looking back, one can wonder if some of the ultimate knee problems where from poor foot posturing.

Whenever a guy is an NBA prospect simply because he can play above-the-rim, I am always worried. Legs give out. And tie after time a great career is ruined because of these apparent-at-the-time minor issues.

Never heard anything about it, you sure it's legit? Cuz I've been following this team since the Penny days and I was a huge Hardaway fan back then, yet no paper or magazine reported this? Must've been a nightmare for him anyway...with practice drills and all that.

dang i forgot about that, i remember hearing about it a loong time ago..the reason why it wasnt so big is because penny had to sit out his freshaman year and didnt play, it happened during that time..i think it was his ankle though
yea its true, "During his freshman season Hardaway was robbed at gunpoint and then struck by a stray bullet in the foot, putting his career in jeopardy".

I can't actively remember this story, but I have a feeling I probably read about it back in the day and then just forgot about it over the years.

Like drsd said, I too am wondering if his foot injury had anything to do with the knee injuries that came about later down the line. I mean, not the main cause, but something that helped accelerate the problems.

gee.

i remember this and i've never lived in central florida.

I am moving house and was clearing out my loff this weekend.

Brought down a box and it had a ton of basketball stuff from like 97 to 99 I think - just found a ton of Penny posters, used to love the guy; actually still have a soft spot always disappointed about how his career ended up.

where were you guys when we drafted him? I remember hearing about it after we traded for him.

If I remember correctly, most Orlando fans booed the poor kid because they wanted Webber. He won them over for a while though. Then they started hating him again.

Nemesis21 wrote:where were you guys when we drafted him? I remember hearing about it after we traded for him.

Ummmm lets see i was like 9 when he was drafted soo........

MagicStarwipe wrote:If I remember correctly, most Orlando fans booed the poor kid because they wanted Webber. He won them over for a while though. Then they started hating him again.

That was correct.

I was elated with the pick, and by the end of Hardaway's rookie season, most forgot about Webber too.

damo[23] wrote:I am moving house and was clearing out my loff this weekend.

Brought down a box and it had a ton of basketball stuff from like 97 to 99 I think - just found a ton of Penny posters, used to love the guy; actually still have a soft spot always disappointed about how his career ended up.

I still have some Penny posters hanging up on the wall

Nemesis21 wrote:where were you guys when we drafted him? I remember hearing about it after we traded for him.

Being that I live in the UK and our NBA coverage was terrible [teletext would update the scores about 36 hours+ after the game] and our magazine/media coverage was few and far between [I had to rely on book stores having imports], it was actually, if I remember correctly, quite a while after the draft that I read about it.

Ofcourse now, with the internet, I hear about deals before the GM's have even thought about trading a player. Gotta love RealGM's.