Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway

When Hardaway left Memphis State in 1993, he was drafted by the Golden State Warriors but immediately traded to the Orlando Magic for their first-round draft choice, future Washington Wizards and Sacramento Kings star Chris Webber. Magic fans were gathered in the Orlando Arena to watch a telecast of the draft, and some of them booed Hardaway when they heard of this trade. According to Hardaway, this was the worst day of his life. "How can you feel at home when your hometown fans boo you?" Hardaway said to Sports Illustrated's Phil Taylor.

The Magic's O'Neal had a great deal to do with Hardaway's acquisition by that team. The two had played together in the Olympic Festival in 1990 and later worked together on the basketball-themed film Blue Chips, where O'Neal developed a great deal of respect for Hardaway's game. The O'Neal-Hardaway pairing was indeed magical: O'Neal, the flamboyant center, was the major attention-getter and scorer, but the less flashy, six-foot-seven-inch point guard Hardaway did an excellent job of feeding him the ball and was a serious scoring threat himself. By the end of his second season, sportswriters were confidently declaring Hardaway one of the greatest basketball players of our time.