You’ll have a tough time arising with a lineup that would beat Hardaway’s. Whereas the 53-year-old was clearly being a bit biased there, by selecting himself, you might argue he would have gone down as one of many all-time greats, if not for accidents.
In his first three seasons with the Magic after being drafted with the third choose of the 1993 NBA Draft, Hardaway made the All-NBA First Group twice and completed third in MVP voting as soon as. He was some of the electrifying gamers the basketball world had ever seen and regarded set to be a dominant power for a few years.
Sadly, the damage bug then struck. Hardaway suffered his first severe knee damage within the 1996 playoffs and would proceed to be suffering from them for the remainder of his profession. By the point 2001 got here round, he was a shadow of his former self.
Hardaway would find yourself enjoying 14 seasons within the NBA and completed with profession averages of 15.2 factors, 4.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.4 blocks per sport. He might have finished a lot extra and it is a disgrace we by no means actually noticed him at his greatest.
As for the remainder of the group Hardaway picked right here, we definitely did see them at their greatest. His former teammate Shaquille O’Neal was a 15-time All-Star who received 4 titles, three Finals MVPs, an MVP, and two scoring titles. O’Neal ended his profession with spectacular averages of 23.7 factors, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.6 steals, and a pair of.3 blocks per sport, and has gone down as one of many biggest huge males ever.
Hardaway then selected Michael Jordan and never a lot must be stated right here. Jordan was a 14-time All-Star who received six titles, six Finals MVPs, 5 MVPs, and 10 scoring titles. He’s broadly considered the GOAT and walked away from the sport with averages of 30.1 factors, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals, and 0.6 blocks per sport.
The one actual challenger to Jordan for that title of biggest ever is LeBron James, and he was the fourth participant Hardaway talked about. James is a 20-time All-Star who has received 4 titles, 4 Finals MVPs, 4 MVPs, a scoring title, and an assists title. He has profession averages of 27.1 factors, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.7 blocks per sport, and remains to be going sturdy regardless of his superior age.
Hardaway’s final choice was the late nice Kobe Bryant. Kobe was an 18-time All-Star who received 5 titles, two Finals MVPs, an MVP, and two scoring titles. Bryant averaged 25.0 factors, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per sport in his profession, and is mostly considered the second-greatest capturing guard of all time, behind Jordan.
