If Anfernee Hardaway never got hurt?

[TAZORAC]

He would have been the greatest PG of all time. Hardaway was a 6'5 6'6 PG with a deadly jump shot.

[305Baller]

He would have been the greatest PG of all time. Hardaway was a 6'5 6'6 PG with a deadly jump shot.

[rodman91]

[NumberSix]

Goat

[Kobe 4 The Win]

If my Aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.

Magic = GOAT

[Rake2204]

Ha.

[Whoah10115]

Penny is 6'7.


And he would made a legit push at top 5 all-time.

[bizil]

U r talking a first ballot HOFer and a top 5 GOAT caliber PG or SG. Even though Penny was a great player at PG, many like him better as a SG. He could have focused more on scoring while getting anywhere from 7-8 dimes a game. But Penny would have been a beast at either guard position. And even had enough size to play SF. It's a shame because Penny and Hill were in line to battle the guys like Kobe, Wade, TMac, and Lebron for perimeter supremacy. They are a little older and it would have been interesting to see them battler the younger guys.

[Deuce Bigalow]

[bizil]

Magic is a tough nut to crack at PG. It's basically the same situation with MJ at the SG. Gotta realize as big as Penny was, he was the size of a typcial swingman. But he was skilled enough to play point. Magic was the size of many power forwards. And Magic loved forcing his will and playing in the post. Even if u switched your SF on him, Magic usually still had the size advantage at 6'9 225-230 pounds.

[JohnnySic]

If he never got hurt his star would have faded when people realized that he wasn't as good as advertised. Iverson was abusing him by '96/'97 and the other young stars on the horizon (Kobe, T-Mac, Pierce, Carter, etc) would have done so as well.

Penny is the most overrated player I've seen in my lifetime. He was not even as good as Grant Hill, and no one seems to be putting Hill into that upper echelon of superstars, not even at his best.

He got injured at just the right time, enhancing his legacy. Call it the Kurt Cobain effect.

[pauk]

He would been the Lebron/Wade before Lebron/Wade.... at best... hardly unlikely but anyways...

and oh...

1. Penny was actually 6'7"
2. Penny was actually SG/PG/SF... combo-guard / point-forward.... he ping ponged between those positions exactly like Lebron / Wade did... if Penny was a PG, then so was/is Lebron & Wade...

[Collie]

Penny was a very good scorer, but he wasn't a great passer. A good one, but not on the level of Chris Paul, Magic, Isiah. I always thought he would have made a better SG than a PG.

[chocolatethunder]

If he never got hurt his star would have faded when people realized that he wasn't as good as advertised. Iverson was abusing him by '96/'97 and the other young stars on the horizon (Kobe, T-Mac, Pierce, Carter, etc) would have done so as well.

Penny is the most overrated player I've seen in my lifetime. He was not even as good as Grant Hill, and no one seems to be putting Hill into that upper echelon of superstars, not even at his best.

He got injured at just the right time, enhancing his legacy. Call it the Kurt Cobain effect.

+100000000000000
If you saw him play and not just saw highlight reels you would realize that all this revisionist history is just bs. He was good but he has to be the most overrated player on this board.

[Rake2204]

He would been the Lebron/Wade before Lebron/Wade.... at best... hardly unlikely but anyways...

and oh...

1. Penny was actually 6'7"
2. Penny was actually SG/PG/SF... combo-guard / point-forward.... he ping ponged between those positions exactly like Lebron / Wade did... if Penny was a PG, then so was/is Lebron & Wade...

I may have to respectfully disagree with the statement, "If Penny was a PG then so was/is Lebron & Wade." Through his prime, Penny was primarily a point guard. As in, a lineup would typically look like: C-Shaquille O'Neal, PF-Horace Grant, SF-Dennis Scott/Donald Royal, SG-Nick Anderson, PG-Anfernee Hardaway. That's not to say he always started at point guard, but that was his primary position, where Wade and James would typically be referred to as primarily being a shooting guard and small forward, respectfully. There was no need to sign a Mo Williams, Boobie Gibson, or Mario Chalmers, because Penny was the point guard.

If he never got hurt his star would have faded when people realized that he wasn't as good as advertised. Iverson was abusing him by '96/'97 and the other young stars on the horizon (Kobe, T-Mac, Pierce, Carter, etc) would have done so as well.

Penny is the most overrated player I've seen in my lifetime. He was not even as good as Grant Hill, and no one seems to be putting Hill into that upper echelon of superstars, not even at his best.

He got injured at just the right time, enhancing his legacy. Call it the Kurt Cobain effect.

I'm with you in part, but maybe not in full. Surely, a thread with an original post suggesting Penny Hardaway may have been the best point guard of all-time isn't a great way to downplay the idea he's the most overrated player of our lifetime, but typically I don't believe most people follow that same train of thought.

With Penny, I think a lot of his lasting legacy has to do with his style and pop culture status. That's not to say he wasn't also a great player, but I think it's kind of like the Fab Five's notoriety. I'm an Ann Arbor guy so by default I loved the Fab Five, but I can agree their popularity and legacy is not directly correlated to their skill level and success. They were great, but perhaps not great enough to be remembered how they are based on their skill level alone. I think it's the same with Penny. His game was so smooth, with flashy passes and explosive facials. He was playing alongside the game's most marketable player at the time (Shaquille O'Neal) and they were running rough shot over the rest of the league. Then, Lil' Penny happened. There was a lot of hype, and it couldn't be said he wasn't good. He was still dropping 21 and 7 and for someone with that type of hype, those types of statistics don't exactly leave the door open for doubters and haters.

With all that said, I surely see where you're coming from, I just don't usually hear people making incredulous claims about what Hardaway could have been. I think a lot of us feel we were able to see the best of Penny. I suppose he could have continued to move onward and upward, but by his third full season, I feel as though his skills were established. I definitely agree with you regarding Grant Hill's skill in relation to Hardaway's though.