Chattanooga to Portland. We will stay in St. Louis tonight. With just my wife and daughter in tow, Magic talk is rare. Even rarer is a site such as this that presents and practices civility. Kudos.

As for retired Magic Players. I have said my piece.

We are too young.

Penny was certainly a fantastic player. And maybe I was too young to really remember how good Penny was. But, and I think the poll above speaks to this, he doesn’t pass the sniff test. I recognize how good he was, but really I remember the bad more than the good.

I remember the disappointing years waiting for him to return from that devastating injury. I remember the coup that led to Brian Hill’s ouster. When he was on the court he was fantastic. But there are too many negative memories attached to Penny to have his jersey retired.

I was a little kid in those times to be honest guys. But I remember collecting Penny’s cards, I still have a nice one framed up somewhere. I was a fanatic of his, he was my favorite player by far and then Shaq came a distant second. He is actually quite perfect for a retiring jersey. He stayed enough seasons with Orlando, and it’s pretty obvious he was a BEAST in those years. He got a Finals appearance and multiple playoff appearances, playing dominant every single time. Penny had that same effect as Shaq, you got to remember these were the seasons when Orlando had the most fans and interest within the city and in the NBA (up to today even, tho last season drummed up some big fan revival), it was Shaq & Penny, Shaq & Penny, both had tremendous prime years in Orlando. It was like a cult classic being a fan of Magic, Shaq & Penny back then. It’s still a little sad the way Penny parted with us, but I think time has healed that indeed. Especially if Penny does a few PR moves for Orlando, or has any interest in a nonessential FO position.. it would help more. I been thinking about Penny more and more, and I think he should seriously be considered the closest to a jersey retiring, if not to actually be retired.

By the way, on a unrelated note, How cool would be to compare Penny in his Magic years to our current PGs? Who would he be similar to? He was very tall and fast, a floor general and an elite scorer.. Perhaps, he is too unique to compare, but Magic Johnson is not a bad comparison..

For me, and I can’t imagine how anyone who has watched this team since it’s inception could think differently, Penny was by far the most exciting, awe-inspiring player to ever wear a Magic uniform. His good years came and went too fast and the bad times were brutal but I think what he did before his career went south was enough. I would have no objection to having his jersey retired.

He did some great things in a Magic uniform but as long as the DeVos family owns this team, Penny’s number never will be retired. His antics and immaturity after Shaq left were embarassing to the franchise and he has never tried to make amends. Actually he might of tried when they acquired him back from New York, but unfortunately B.Hill was the coach. So much for that but karma’s a bitch.

How about they retire #1 as Hardaway/McGrady. That would be fitting for both cause as E points out there are two parts to jersey retirement. McGrady and Penny both have one part but not the other, so they can combine their parts to make one. This proves why a Ring of Honor might be more fitting for this franchise. They could then include guys like Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups. Unreal the talent that has gone through this franchise.

no no no no no.

I guess here we have the opposite of DA, a guy who did receive accolades (many of which were helped by having Shaq down low drawing triple teams) yet did not have enough of a career in ORL and had a serious falling out with the team/fans, courtesy of the Brian Hill coup. ORL should retire his Phoenix jersey in celebration that they got out from under his terrible, Marbury-esque contract, even if it did mean we took on Fat Garrity’s 20 year, 88 million dollar contract.

As I write this, I’m looking at three different versions of my Penny jerseys hung in my room, as well as a plaque detailing his 1997 All-Star Game selection, a Penny poster, and a calendar from 1998 (!) with Penny as the month of December. With all that being said, I haven’t voted yet on this poll, but I’m inclined to vote no, because his success wasn’t sustained for a long period of time. 6 years?! Really 4 1/2 years of relatively high success, but still. That wouldn’t be enough. But to contrast that, Wilt Chamberlain played 5 years in a Lakers jersey and got his number retired. But to contrast THAT, Wilt was a living legend before he stepped foot in the purple and gold, Penny was just starting out.

Either way, I know teams sometimes retire jerseys in context of the rest of the league instead of their own history, and I don’t think we should be different just because we’re only 20 years old. Because then people on the outside would see us retiring so-so players’ jerseys and it’s like their legacies would almost be worse off instead of not retiring their jerseys at all.

But everytime I see the number 1 on a Magic jersey, I always think of Penny. I almost hate to say it, but T-Mac’s #1 should be retired before Penny’s #1, if we’re going off of statistics alone.

Ugh, this is such a hard decision to make!

I believe a lot of Penny’s attitude problems stemmed from his introduction to Orlando. I mean, c’mon guys. The majority of fans actually booed him after the trade! Is that any way to be introduced to a fan base? While I hated the way he parted, I can see how that may have festered in him for years and may have been a factor in the end.

As an aside, being a Memphis Tiger fan since the ’70’s I knew Penny had it in him to be something really special, and it really saddened me to see the fan reaction in Orlando at that time. If not for his injuries and attitude problems I would vote yes for him long before I’d vote yes for ballhogging T’Mac..

When you think about this franchise past, Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway were the franchise.
Now people can say he burned too many bridges and fell out. But so did Shaq, T-Mac, 3-D and even Darell Armstrong (remember how mad he was about being let go in 03?)

As I’ve said before here, he’s a touchy issue with Magic fans but in perspective he was a player who had a phenomenal run here and was just hampered by injuries. Rookie of the Year runner up, 1st NBA twice and 3rd NBA once, MVP runner up, guided the Magic to one of just 2 Finals apperances.

If Barkley could squash his beef with the Suns to be honored by them for just 4 years of work, I dont see why Penny shouldn’t either.

The guy seems to like Orlando (as he said in the Finals when ESPN interviewed) and I never thought he had a problem with the city or the community but was frustrated by the amount of trash that was aimed at him in the Sentinel and by the fans who were mad he wasn’t able to be healthy.

I think Devos needs to sit down and squash the beef with him. Frankly I’m sick and tired of the attitude he has about Penny and how he has trickled it down to the rest of the organization (See Otis Smith comment about Penny during the Steve Francis trade)

Add to the fact that the other guy who famously wore number 1 here wore it as a tribute to him and I would like to see us remember him in a fond light.

He was pretty solid when he wasn’t injured. Me and other Suns fans weren’t exactly thrilled with his price tag for what he brought to the table, however. Based on what I know from his Orlando days, he probably deserves the recognition for their success in the 90’s.

I liken him to a young Kobe Bryant who never stayed on stage long enough to show that he grew to maturity. Penny might have become a great leader, but when he dissapeared from sight, he was a knucklehead, and pretty much universaly despised around Orlando.

Sorry, but I stand by my assertion in relation to Darrel Armstrong. No Magic player has distinguished himself in the manner necessary for this honor. Why reach for the first jersey to hang from our rafters. Wait for someone who deserves it.

But he’ll always be my favourite Magic player.

I found my two Penny cards, one is Topps card in a blue plastic frame, the other is a NBAHoops card in a wood frame. Now I’ve put them next to my Magic basketball signed by Jameer Nelson. Past – Present PG’s!