Rumors

LeBron James: When you talk about inspiration, there was nobody more inspiring to me than Michael Jordan. For me, I think our games would have complemented each other well. MJ was a flat-out scorer. He had a scorers mentality if I had to pick him. But I know I can't pick him because I know how social media works. You're gonna be like, "Oh, you want to play with Michael Jordan, too? You get to play with everybody else. God damn it." I didn't ask the question. I'm only answering it, guys. I didn't ask the question. But MJ was inspiration. Penny Hardaway was inspiration to me. Grant Hill was inspiration to me growing up. Like that point forward Scottie Pippen, that point forward. Guys like Penny, like Grant Hill, like Scottie, those guys kind of inspired me because I kind of wanted to be that point forward. I can see the headline already. LeBron wants to play with Michael Jordan. Like, I see it already. That's weird. Don't be weird. Don't be weird. Don't be weird. I was going to say Kobe Bryant, but I actually played with Kobe in the Olympics, so rest his soul. Great Kobe. Great Kobe.

YouTube

Dwight Howard, D’Angelo Russell, Penny Hardaway, and Victor Oladipo are all bringing their podcasts to Blue Wire, the platform’s founder and CEO Kevin Jones confirmed to Front Office Sports. The podcasts were all previously independent. Over the last several years, current and former player podcasts have become a cottage industry in the sports media space, and nowhere is this more pronounced than with basketball. FOS asked Howard, who was inducted into the Orlando Magic’s Hall of Fame earlier this week, how he thinks he cuts through the clutter.

Front Office Sports

When asked if LeBron James belongs in the category of all-around players like Grant Hill, Scottie Pippen, and Penny Hardaway, Harper offered a different perspective. “Well, I don’t know if LeBron is a better athlete than what Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway was and what Tracy McGrady was,” Harper said. “If I’m going to group LeBron, I’m going to group LeBron with Oscar Robertson and Magic because he’s a great passer. Now if you’re talking about guys who can score the basketball? Grant Hill can score the basketball, he wasn’t a great passer. He could score the basketball. Tracy McGrady was a great passer and he could score. So, you can group those guys in whatever opinion that you have, none of them are going to be right and none of them are going to be wrong, they are all great players.”

ScoopB.com

LeBron James appeared on Wednesday’s episode of the “New Heights” podcast with Travis and Jason Kelce and finally opened up about the famously mysterious pick-up game he played in with Michael Jordan as a high schooler. James said the game happened in 2001, and he and Jordan played with NBA vets Antoine Walker, Penny Hardaway, Ron Artest and Michael Finley. Grainy photos from the game showing James and Jordan sharing the court have surfaced on social media over the years, but video footage of the contest has never emerged.

New York Times

When Travis asked James who guarded him, the Los Angeles Lakers star definitively said, “Nobody, I was unguardable,” setting off an eruption of laughter from the Kelce brothers. “I was in Chicago at MJ’s court, it was called ‘Hoops,'” James said before referencing an interview Artest had with Paul George about James’ dominance. “When I finally got out there, I was busting ass, man,” James said. “I was nervous, I was nervous as hell being out there with MJ and the rest of those guys, but I was like, ‘I’m about to go crazy,’ and I did.”

New York Times

Jorge Sierra: FYI: Tim Hardaway Jr. passed Penny Hardaway in scoring yesterday. Also: Bradley Beal moved past Elton Brand for No. 106 in NBA history.

bsky.app

When Jayden Hardaway and DJ Rodman walk into the pressroom inside the Washington Wizards’ practice arena, there are both subtle and obvious indicators that they are the sons of ’90s NBA greats Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway and Dennis Rodman. Aside from much longer hair, Jayden Hardaway is a spitting image of his dad. From his face to his muscular build (he is 6-feet-5, and his father is 6-feet-7), even down to the skinny, triangular goatee his dad used to rock as a member of the Orlando Magic, it’s like coming out of a time machine in 1994 when looking at him. If you saw DJ Rodman walking down the street, you wouldn’t immediately peg him for the son of “The Worm,” because he has a lighter complexion and favors his mother. But a glance at his painted black fingernails hints at his lineage.

Andscape

While the NBA is full of the sons of former players — last season, the Golden State Warriors had five such players on its roster — it’s rare to have the sons of stars at the level of Penny Hardaway, and Dennis Rodman make it to this point at the same time. On Oct. 26, the Capital City Go-Go, the G League affiliate for the Wizards, took them in the second round of the developmental league’s draft. Making it on an NBA roster may be a long shot, but they’re banking on the intangibles they learned over long college careers to one day make it to a main roster. But as they enter their pro basketball careers, Hardaway and Rodman want to chart paths that don’t rely on their famous last names. “We appreciate the love, and we know the ‘expectations’ we’ll get, but we’ll know what we have to do every night to be our best selves, and there’s no point in comparing us to our fathers,” Hardaway said at the Capital City Go-Go’s media day Nov. 6. “They were a rare breed. We’ll be our best selves.”

Andscape

Regardless of playing time, Penny Hardaway handled his son as if he were a five-star recruit. “He would push me like I was our best player,” Jayden Hardaway said. “He would be on me harder than everybody else on the team just to try to prepare me for any moment.” Go-Go coach Cody Toppert was an assistant at Memphis during three of Jayden Hardaway’s seasons on the team. He describes the younger Hardaway as a team-first, high-character presence who helped keep the locker room together. Being the coach’s son and the son of Penny Hardaway never deterred Jayden Hardaway, and he remained humble, which is why Toppert wanted to draft him. “He’s proud of that, so he doesn’t run from it, he embraces it, but then he doesn’t let it impact what he does and who he is,” Toppert said. “He has his own distinct identity.”

Andscape

Dennis “DJ” Rodman Jr., whose sister, Trinity Rodman, plays for the Washington Spirit of the National Women’s Soccer League and won a gold medal with Team USA in the 2024 Paris Games, played at Washington State from 2019 to 2023, averaging 9.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in his final season. Following the 2022-23 season, Rodman transferred to USC, where he joined a roster headlined by No. 1 high school prospect Isaiah Collier and Bronny James, the son of Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James. The Trojans were ranked No. 21 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, and the program became a media circus due to the presence of the younger James. “We were probably one of the most hyped teams in college basketball,” Rodman said.

Andscape

He learned that mentality from watching his father’s old Finals games with the Pistons and Bulls on the long-running NBA TV show Hardwood Classics (Dennis Rodman last played in the NBA in 2000, a year before DJ Rodman was born). “He didn’t have a problem guarding the best guy,” DJ Rodman said. “I plan on having that same mentality when it comes to being a player on the court.” Hardaway also takes pride in his defensive skills, labeling himself a “3 and D” guy who can also knock down shots (he shot 31.7% from 3 at Memphis, though he converted 46% during the 2021-22 season). Versatility, he said, is his biggest strength. “If I need to make plays, like if somebody’s hot and I need to be the one to make sure he’s finding shots, I can do that. Or if I need to space the floor and be ready to knock a shot down, I can do that. Or if it’s taking the challenge of guarding the best player on the other team, I’m up for any challenge,” Hardaway said.

Andscape

Jorge Sierra: This is hard to believe, but Trae Young (age 26) has already scored more points in the NBA than Penny Hardaway. Passed him yesterday.

Twitter

Police arrested a suspect Thursday in the theft of exclusive shoes from the home of Memphis men's basketball coach Penny Hardaway. Ronald James, 42, was charged with theft of property, Memphis police spokesman Officer Joseph Hibler told ESPN. Per a Memphis police report obtained by ESPN, a man was captured on camera earlier this month swiping the merchandise and pushing boxes on a shopping cart near Hardaway's $4.25 million home.

ESPN

WREG uncovered reports of a porch pirate in East Memphis, only to learn that the victim is none other than University of Memphis men’s basketball coach Penny Hardaway. Memphis Police say officers responded to the 400 block of Goodwyn Street on August 8. Camera footage showed a male pushing a shopping cart filled with stolen packages. He was last seen pushing the cart at Goodwyn and Central.

WREG