| Monday, November 15
By Mitch Lawrence
Special to ESPN.com |
|
NEW YORK -- If there's another superstar, in any sport, whose star has
fallen as far and as fast as Penny Hardaway's has in the last few years,
please identify yourself.
"I know I need to rebuild my image," Hardaway said.
|  | | Penny still has game, and now he wants to prove it. |
Like from the ground floor up.
Once, Hardaway was called "the next Magic Johnson" and "the heir to
Michael Jordan." Today, he's trying to shed some very different labels:
Dog. Coach-killer. Malcontent. Softie. Worse than Derrick Coleman to
coach.
"A lot of it, I did to myself," said the Suns' new guard recently. "I
realize that. So the best move for me was leaving Orlando. I had a dark
cloud over my head there. This is a fresh start for me."
Last summer, when it became apparent that he and the Magic had to part
ways after six seasons, Hardaway wanted to have his new start as a
Laker. Re-join Shaquille O'Neal. Slide back into the old, comfortable No. 2 role. Help form the lasting dynasty everyone had expected when the two young stars delivered the six-year-old Magic to the 1995 Finals.
"When Shaq left, that was a huge hit, but I really didn't know how big
that hit was," Hardaway admitted. "Honestly, I was like, 'Well, we lost
him, but let's try to salvage something.' But then a year later, I said,
'Oh, my god.' And I realized, it was hu-mon-gous to lose him."
Hardaway might have been the last to know, but he was first to realize
that getting as far away from Orlando as possible would help him start
anew. There, he was blamed for everything but Shaq's departure, with
Chuck Daly telling friends last spring that he was more of a horror to
coach than Coleman.
One problem with the L.A. scenario. The Lakers weren't nearly as interested in him as he was in them. That not-so-subtle message came through in the 10-odd conversations he had with Laker VP Jerry West.
"Every call, I was doing all the talking," Hardaway said. "It made me
feel discouraged that he really didn't want me. I didn't want to go into
a situation where they were saying, 'We did you a favor by letting you
come here.' I'd rather go somewhere where I was wanted."
Hello, Phoenix.
While Hardaway was getting a cold response from West, he was getting the
opposite reaction from Jason Kidd. The Suns' star might have been the
best person to do the talking, since he could personally relate to what
Hardaway was going through in Orlando.
"I went through the exact same stuff in Dallas," Kidd said. "I just
wanted to lend a hand. But I also didn't want him going to the Lakers. I
told Penny, 'We're gonna have fun and we're gonna win.'"
Armed with his new $87 million deal, Hardaway wants nothing more than to
win, big. "We got to the Finals and didn't win, so anything I did after
that was not good enough," he said. "It's like, you have to get back to
the Finals before you're a good player again."
The Suns probably won't get to the Finals. You always have to question
their toughness, size and defense to get out of the ultra-competitive
West. But the farther they go, the better the labels will be for Penny
Hardaway.
Rim Shots I
Steve Francis' rough start in Houston -- a 1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, taking the second-most shots on the team and failing to get the ball to teammates -- hasn't made anyone give up on him.
"He's going to be a superstar," said Calvin Murphy, the ex-Rocket who
has followed Francis since he played junior-college ball outside Houston
at San Jacinto J.C. "He's got talent, athletic ability and a passion for
the game. You tell him something once and he's got it down cold. He's
eager to understand the concept of making his job easier."
The job has been anything but easy, given the fact that Francis was able
to shoot at will in college and now has to get the ball to Hakeem
Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and others.
"He's got so much talent," Barkley said. "We've got to harness that
talent. He's obviously learning how to play the point. The physical
attributes are there. He just needs to tone it down a little. He can
make plays any time he wants to. But he's got to get everybody else
involved now. It'll take time."
With rookie point guards, it always does.
Rim Shots II
Circle Nov. 27 on your calendar. Stephon Marbury goes back
at it against Kidd and Hardaway in Phoenix. When the Nets and Suns went at it last week in Jersey, Marbury did some trash-talking, which both of the Suns' guards objected to. "We'll see what Stephon has to say the next time," Kidd said.
Rasheed Wallace and Mike Dunleavy were back at it last week in Utah. Dunleavy finally had to tell his immature star to sit down and shut up. Wasn't the first time. Won't be the last.
Trouble in Charlotte: Eldridge Recasner fully intended to sue Derrick Coleman as a result of the recent auto accident where Coleman was driving and Recasner ended up with a busted shoulder and collapsed lung. VP Bob Bass caught wind of Recasner's plans and thundered to his agent, "What are you trying to do, divide my team?" Like it's real unified to begin with.
No kidding: Dan Fegan has privately told several Jazz
players, "I really messed up, didn't I?" by having client Shandon
Anderson turn down Utah's $25 million offer and take the Rockets' $2
million exception.
Baltimore and New Orleans are first in line to
woo the Rockets, who suffered a major defeat at the polls on a new arena
referendum. Owner Les Alexander offered to put up $100 million, while
asking city and Harris County residents to shell out another $80 million.
They rejected the idea, by a 55-45 margin. The Rockets' lease at Compaq
Center expires in 2003.
Who had five games in the "How long before Isaiah
Rider demands a trade" pool? You win. He's saying he wants out if he
doesn't become the Hawks' "man," but he could be leaving in a matter of
months, anyway. The Hawks' take on Rider is that they've got him on a
nine-month trial basis. If he causes trouble, on-court or off, they'll
gladly show him the door when his contract expires July 1. Then they'll
take his $5.4 million and look for a free agent.
The jealousy has started
with the Clippers over Lamar Odom. Players are irritated that Chris Ford
is featuring the team's flashy No. 1 pick. First off, what's Ford
supposed to do? Odom already is their best player. With Maurice Taylor
already saying he's leaving via free agency at season's end, and Derek
Anderson also eligible to go, the Clips have a chance to be in turmoil
the entire season.
Brian Grant is returning to the Blazers after off-season knee surgery at just the right time. This week, Portland plays three sets of back-to-back games on the road, starting with a
brutal four-game stretch in five days. After a Miami-Orlando set Tuesday
and Wednesday, the Blazers get Philly-Charlotte Friday and Saturday. The
final two games are next week in Cleveland and Minnesota.
Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com. |  |
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