Philadelphia 76ers: 5 Best No. 3 overall selections since inception of NBA Draft Lottery

4. Anfernee Hardaway, 1993

On pure talent alone, Hardaway would come close to assuming the No. 1 ranking in this breakdown. But unfortunately for Hardaway and fans alike, his body simply wouldn’t cooperate. Teaming up with Shaquille O’Neal, Hardaway excelled in his first few seasons in the league. He and O’Neal made a trip to the NBA Finals in 1995 and he was named to the All-NBA First Team in 1995 and 1996.

In all, Hardaway was a four-time All-Star and a member of the USA Men’s Basketball squad that won gold at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. But as alluded to, injuries prematurely curtailed Hardaway in the prime of his career. In an interview with Slam Online following his career, Hardaway detailed his horror run with injury:

"“I had six knee surgeries, two in Orlando and four in Phoenix. Two got done at the same time. I was one of the first guys to get microfracture surgery. And I didn’t handle the recovery well. It wasn’t even heard of in the NBA yet. It took away my legs, my athleticism. They were left knee injuries, and it would be like, OK, I’d have the surgery and wait like five or six weeks and come back and then a week or two later, it wouldn’t feel right. I tried to just force it…It was hard to believe. They kept asking me, ‘Did you hear anything? Did you hear your knee pop?’ I would tell them, ‘No, but it really does hurt.’ All of a sudden there was pain and I was very frustrated. I went from being very athletic, one of the best guards in the NBA, to barely making it. No speed, no agility. I had to change how I played because I couldn’t exercise or train because my knee constantly hurt.”"

In essence, Hardaway entered the league roughly 20 years too early. With the advances in modern-day sports medicine, there’s no doubt Hardaway would’ve added to his four All-Star appearances if he had the guidance afforded players in the current era.

Renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews has performed a variety of knee surgeries on some of the biggest names in the game. He offered his assessment of where it all came unstuck with Hardaway:

"“It was very difficult to explain what was wrong with Penny Hardaway. He was a great guy, a competitive guy, but he had an articular cartilage injury, an injury to the smooth lining of the joint that allows the gliding of the joint. Back then we didn’t really have MRIs to make the diagnosis. Today? Now you would see that on an MRI. It’s still a nemesis and the hardest thing in treatment because the body doesn’t have a way to regenerate it. Mother Nature can’t just fix that. That’s the next step, the biologics, where we determine how to jump-start the healing process and let the body, not the procedure, do the work.”"

Following his early days in Orlando, Hardaway spent five seasons in Phoenix before making short stops in New York and Miami. But as Hardaway explained, once his left knee began the first of many surgeries, his days as an All-NBA, dominant player were over.

Having said all this, Hardaway’s impact while at the top of his games can never be understated.