As an athlete, the body can fail you. I know. The mind and your education will be there to keep carrying you.
— Penny Hardaway
People who weren't watching basketball were still fans of Lil Penny.
I haven't felt like I ever had a chance to blossom into the player and the person I want to be in Orlando. It's almost like I've been held down every time.
I didn't care about titles unless they were championship titles. I don't care about who the man is on the team.
I've coached grassroots for eight years, I coached middle school, and I coached high school.
I think it's a huge compliment from the younger guys understanding what I did for the game and wanting to represent me by wearing my shoes.
It's amazing to see these young guys come into the league and want to wear my shoes.
I was blessed to get the contracts I had.
The college kids are recruiting each other. When they go to a school, they start recruiting each other.
I don't think about the money side. I just think about how I can create a culture of winning.
I love basketball, and I didn't get a chance to finish my career the way I wanted.
I have two people that I mainly look up to: Magic Johnson is one of them. He just blew everything out of the water. He didn't make much money in basketball, but since basketball has been over, he's investing in the community and making a lot of money at the same time. The next one I look up to is Sean Combs, who has always been a hustler.
I want to see the Memphis flags waving on the cars. I want to see the T-shirts going again, the hats going again like the old school days, and that's what we want to take it back to.
I'm not the kind of coach who feels like they know everything and 'Don't say anything to me.'
I feel like I've paid attention to all the great coaches who have coached me.
I keep myself in shape. I love the game of basketball, and I really feel like it doesn't matter about your age.
I felt pain every night. After games, it took me a long time to walk to my car, and the driving home, it took me a couple of minutes even to get out of my car and extend my legs and just walk.
The NBA is my history.
I was one of the best players in the NBA.
I made it real clear I wanted to play in Orlando. Part of it was Shaq. But I also just liked Orlando. It's not all glitzy and reminds me of Memphis.
I was an introvert.
I went from being very athletic, one of the best guards in the NBA, to barely making it. No speed, no agility. I had to change how I played because I couldn't exercise or train because my knee constantly hurt.
My favorite sneaker is the Penny 1. The Penny 1 is an original, man, and I loved them from the beginning, and other people loved them, too. It was a comfortable shoe, and the Penny 1 was definitely my favorite to play in. The Penny II was a close second, though.
I lived the dream. God blessed me to live the dream.
There are a lot of people who came out of adverse situations and made it. Use it as motivation. Use it to drive you.
Recruiting is tough because you have to stay in the battle. You've got so many guys that are going after a certain amount of kids.
I am used to the hype because I played in the NBA.
Mentally I was retired, and physically I was retired. I was playing recreational ball. But when the decision happened with Chris Bosh and LeBron, I felt like I could really be good in that system.
If I had stayed there, swallowed my pride, been able to save Orlando all over again, which is what they were trying to get me to do there, I'd be O.K. now.
I like to keep teams off balance.
There's going to be situations that you get into that you're going to need help, for sure. But for the most part, I think coaching is just understanding who you have and your team, understanding yourself, and understanding the situation.
I'm getting used to this as a coach because it's a little jealousy from a lot of these coaches around the country. I do understand that, because we are NBA players trying to come back, and we didn't have any experience as college coaches. So we didn't, quote, unquote, 'Pay our dues.'
I just call it like I see it.
There's the hardest thing - when you cannot be as athletic or perform at a level you really want to. Your mind is telling you, but your body is not allowing you.
Talk about full circle, I never saw this coming. It wasn't like I said, 'Someday, I want to be the head coach at the University of Memphis.'
I was into 'In Living Color,' 'Martin,' the 'Ace Ventura' movies. I love slapstick stuff, too: 'Naked Gun' and 'Caddyshack.'
I wasn't trying to make First Team All-NBA. I just wanted to win.
Kobe has a different temperament than me. We're both competitive, but he was much more outspoken. I would let anything roll off me. Nothing bothered me. I never complained.
When Grant Hill came back to Orlando after having all of his surgeries, I was the first person to call him and congratulate him for making it back. It seemed like nobody cared about what I was dealing with.
I think what makes a really good shoe is something that you can play ball in but also something that you can wear off the court as well.
I believe in giving back.
Playing the game at a high level, understanding what it's like to get to where I've already been and where they want to go. I tell those kids that we're going to develop you, we're going to teach you, and we're going to have you ready off the court and on the court to be an NBA player.
I was a sneakerhead before I even made it to the NBA.
To be able to bring an entire city together is not easy, and we definitely have one thing in common in the city - that's the Tigers. The history of the school is well-noted around town. It is an SEC kind of country with all the SEC schools, but Memphis trumps all of that in the city. I embrace that.
When you still have something in the tank, it's really hard to let it go.
Someone takes the challenge with me, I'm going to take it right back.
I like to speed teams up. I don't like them to get in their rhythm.
I didn't do it the traditional way of being an assistant first and then becoming a head coach.
For sure, I definitely feel like there's a target on my back.
I don't know who Rick Barnes thinks I am, but I'm not a dude that likes to just mess around about anything.
