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Penny Hardaway on how the Orlando Magic pissed Michael Jordan off
Michael Jordan's first retirement from the NBA ushered in a new era filled with young stars such as Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway. In 1995, Penny Hardaway was the poster boy for the Orlando Magic, leading them to a stunning victory in the Eastern Conference semifinals against MJ's Chicago Bulls.
However, Penny recalled that while the victory was momentous, all it did was light a fire from under His Airness. Jordan came back with a vengeance the following season and led the Bulls to their fourth championship in six years.
Establishing himself
When Jordan came back to the Chicago Bulls late in the 1994-1995 season, Penny was already in his sophomore season, establishing himself as an All-Star with averages of 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game.
"He came back, and I was kinda like, 'I'm the big dog.' I mean, Michael is Michael, but he's got to show me," said Penny. "Basically, that was my mentality because I had already been in the league and established myself, but quickly, playing the Bulls, you could just tell that he was rusty, but you could tell that he was a bad dude, man."
The two would eventually meet in the NBA Playoffs, where the Magic eliminated the Bulls 4-2. Though his numbers dipped a bit, Hardaway was still spectacular, with averages of 18.5 points, 7.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game in the six-game series.
Rusty as Jordan was, he still put up 31 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.5 steals per game.
"The respect was always there, but my thing was you had to attack him before he attacked us. But all we did was piss him off," added Penny.
MJ's revenge season
With the bitter taste of defeat, Jordan returned the very next season with a vengeance. That campaign ended up becoming a masterpiece for Jordan as he averaged 30.4 points, 6.6 boards, 4.3 assists, and 2.2 steals on his way to winning the MVP award. As for Penny and the Orlando Magic? Jordan got his revenge, sweeping them in the Eastern Conference Finals, 4-0.
"Once he got that year under his belt, and he got his feet back wet, he went right back into pitbull mode, and it was over," said Penny.
