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If Penny Hardaway never got injured and went through all of those surgeries would he have been worthy enough to get in the hall of fame?

well it's difficult to say because you never know how his game would've held up and how he would've played throughout the rest of his career. But I think with the level of talent he had, yes. Had he never gotten injured he would've been a future HOFer.

Making the Hall of Fame requires playing at an extremely high level for, in my opinion, at least 7 years. If he could have had 4 more years equivalent to his years in Orlando, then it could have been a real possibility. Personally I think his decline was just as much mental as it was physical. I don't think he ever dealt well with the stigma that came attached to him after he ran Brian hill out of town.

No doubt. He was great before the injurys and wasn't even in his prime yet.

Maybe.

Getting past the physical issues was one thing, but i don't think he had the mental makeup of a HOF player.

I don't see how being a sensitive person would have affected his play. His play wasn't affected until he started getting injuries.

Only if hall of fame was decided based on one year performance, otherwise NO.

He was definitely "good enough".

He was well on his way to a HOF career before the injuries. During his rookie season ('93-'94), he won MVP at the first ever Rookie game, made the All-Rookie team, and was runner-up to Webber for ROY honors.

For three straight seasons, from 1994-1997, he made All-NBA teams - twice as a First teamer. He was also an All-Star starter during that time. After an injury-filled '97-'98 campaign (made the All-Star team again, but based on popularity), he came back during the '98-'99 lockout season and played all 50 games and led the Magic to a share of the best regular-season record in the EC.

In his first season with Phoenix, he put up slightly better stats than he had the season before with the Magic, but missed 22 games. Then it started going downhill from there, with continued knee surguries and missed games throughout the next couple of years.

But again, before the injuries, he was definitely at the beginning of a HOF career.

This question could be asked of Hill as well.

drsd wrote:This question could be asked of Hill as well.

Except Penny was a more complete player all-around with a lot more intangibles, Grant may have put up better stats (debatable) but Penny was truly exceptional when "on" and nearly unstoppable. Not a "Larry Bird" or "Magic Johnson" kind of player, but worthy of the hall of fame if he had stayed healthy. One of the fastest declines in NBA history, no doubt

Let me put it this way. I am not just saying yes because I was a penny fan. I am saying this for one reason which will get me alot of hate. If Bill Walton can get to the HoF and even "One of the 50 greatest players" then penny definitely could have. I watched a bunch of old games and more so the celtics with Bill Walton. I cannot see why he was so good. Almost everytime I saw a game with him in it he was on the bench.

That being said I think if penny had not gotten injured and had a shortened career he definitely would have gotten Hof. Especially if injury prone Bill Walton got in there.

healthy yes, but unfortunately he was not so he has no chance in the hall

OK - if Penny would have made, would Little Penny also be enshrined?

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/5913/1andlil.gif

Stupid: "It was not possible to determine the dimensions of the image."

Absolutely
Penny was one of the top 3-4 players in the league before injuries and was really just getting started and was getting better

But i might be a little bias, He was the reason i became a magic fan and really a big basketball fan and to this day is still my favorite player of all time.

He certainly could've had a shot

mhectorgato wrote:OK - if Penny would have made, would Little Penny also be enshrined?

http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/5913/1andlil.gif

Stupid: "It was not possible to determine the dimensions of the image."

That Penny fan site has been up forever. I remember viewing it like 8-9 years ago.

(And yeah, checking some of the dates on the main page, it's been online since at least '95 or '96)

If we had of won it all in '95 he may have gotten in even with all the injury problems.

In my opinion, yeah, he absolutely was goon enough if it hadn't been for the injuries.

On a side-note, Basketball Reference has a Hall of Fame probability metric. Among active players Penny ranks 31st right behind Rasheed Wallace and right ahead of Michael Finley.

He's ranked #187 among all players in NBA history throughout their career.