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NBA Injuries: 20 Stars Who Deserve A Career Do-Over

By Gerald Bourguet

AUBURN HILLS, UNITED STATES: Detroit Pistons player Grant Hill (L) drives around Indiana Pacers player Chris Mullin during the first half of their game 07 February at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons beat the Pacers 107-98. AFP PHOTO/JEFF KOWALSKY (Photo credit should read JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images)
AUBURN HILLS, UNITED STATES: Detroit Pistons player Grant Hill (L) drives around Indiana Pacers player Chris Mullin during the first half of their game 07 February at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Pistons beat the Pacers 107-98. AFP PHOTO/JEFF KOWALSKY (Photo credit should read JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images) /
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NBA Injuries
Basketball: Orlando Magic Shaquille O’Neal (L) and Anfernee Penny Hardaway on bench during game vs New York Knicks at Orlando Arena. Orlando, FL 2/5/1995 CREDIT: John Biever (Photo by John Biever /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images) (Set Number: X47793 ) /

3. Penny Hardaway

For kids growing up in the 90s, it was hard NOT to be a fan of Anfernee Hardaway. Often compared to Magic Johnson for the speed, size and court vision he brought to the point guard position, Penny’s blue or black pinstriped throwback Orlando Magic jerseys with that nostalgic No. 1 donning the back can still be seen across the country.

As a rookie, Hardaway got to learn the ropes of the point guard position from Scott Skiles, taking over the job halfway through the season and finishing second to Chris Webber in Rookie of the Year voting.

In just his second NBA season, Penny was averaging 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game, earned All-Star and All-NBA honors, helped the Magic defeat the Chicago Bulls in Michael Jordan’s comeback season and served alongside Shaquille O’Neal on a 57-win team that went to the 1995 NBA Finals.

Though Orlando was swept by the Rockets in that championship series, Penny did all he could despite being so young, averaging 24.5 points, 8.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game on 50 percent shooting in the Finals.

During his promising early years with the Magic, Penny was a three-time All-NBA selection and four-time All-Star, but once Shaq left for Los Angeles in free agency, Hardaway’s health started to give. He missed 23 games that first season as Orlando’s lone superstar, while a knee injury the following year limited him to 19 games.

That would become the story for Hardaway moving forward, with the once promising triple-double machine undergoing four different knee surgeries after the initial knee procedure. This prevented him from reaching his ceiling when paired up with Jason Kidd on the Phoenix Suns’ “Backcourt 2000” — especially in 2000-01, when he played only four games.

Over his final three NBA seasons with the New York Knicks and Miami Heat, Penny played a grand total of 57 games, with all those knee operations robbing him of his explosiveness. Hardaway had the size, skill, flash and charisma to be an unbelievable player, but he never made it back to the Finals — or even the peak of his own stardom — after his second NBA season.

Next: No. 2