Penny Hardaway has seen the league change from the inside, and he thinks the biggest shift has been the rise of guards who can do it all.
The Orlando Magic legend and current Memphis Tigers head coach recently talked on the red carpet about the modern NBA, the way bigger playmakers have become central to the sport, and how much of today’s game traces back to the players who came before him.
Hardaway said Jayson Tatum and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are two current stars whose games bring him to mind. His point was simple: both have the size of bigger wings, but they move and operate like players much smaller than that. They can handle the ball, make reads, create for themselves, and set up teammates, which is exactly the kind of versatility Hardaway sees as part of the league’s evolution.
He also credited the old guard of oversized creators - Oscar Robertson and Magic Johnson among them - as the foundation for what the NBA has become. Hardaway said those were players he grew up watching, and he views his own career as part of the same line of development that has led to the bigger, more dynamic guards in the league now.
That evolution, in his eyes, has come with a freer offensive environment and a much heavier reliance on the three-point shot. Hardaway said both have changed the way basketball is played.
The offseason also gave him two moves that caught him off guard: the Celtics sending Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia and LeBron James joining the 76ers.
Even with the surprise, Hardaway backed James’ choice and said the superstar has earned the pressure that comes with landing in a place where expectations are immediate.
"That's always going to be the pressure whenever LeBron goes somewhere," Hardaway said. "Because that's why he goes there-he feels like that team can win.
So I'm sure they want that pressure. Pressure's okay."
With James now in Philadelphia next to Brown, Hardaway said the standard will be sky-high right away. In his view, that kind of burden follows James because he usually picks teams he believes can contend for a title.
For Orlando, that only adds another heavyweight to the list in a crowded Eastern Conference. The Magic will have to deal with Philadelphia as they chase one of the top seeds by season’s end.
And for Hardaway, that’s just part of what comes with building a roster that expects to win at the highest level.
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