Penny Hardaway Battles Injury for 29 Points Before Surgery (1996)

Here I come, armed with my 2020 biases and second-hand experience of stars sitting out games due to wear and tear. Yet I do think that Penny fighting through pain to hold down the fort without Shaq was something that probably seemed risky even back then.

Hardaway was hobbled throughout the 1996 playoffs, spent the summer with Team USA in the Olympics (reportedly pain-free) and then again fought leg problems during the 1996-97 preseason.

"I was hurting pretty bad," Hardaway said, according to the Orlando Sentinel. "There were some days when I couldn't even hardly walk."

Yikes! That doesn't seem... optimal. Hardaway used his dexterity to angle for 29 points in this one, yet admits as much after the game that he couldn't really get off the ground. And that's the sad part. Penny Hardaway not only had the athleticism, but also had the feel.

He stuck through one more game (fourth of the season) once Orlando returned from Japan, but then opted for arthroscopic surgery:

"But the Magic's physicians have sensed he may have some cartilage damage because of the lingering effects of a leg injury he suffered in the playoffs last season," L.C. Johnson wrote for the Sentinel.

More surgeries would come...

A precise article with opinions from all sides would be fascinating. This small write-up is by no means conclusive. Yet this is where it all started. Hardaway managed 20.5 points per game this year, played only 19 games in 1997-98 and was never the same after that, even if he put together a healthy season. November 8, 1996.