Penny, John Thompson interview

[Folster]

Did anyone catch this interview after the game. It was priceless. With a stone cold serious face, John Thompson said, "I think your career is over." He also asked Penny if he was a hypochondriac. Penny thought it was a joke until he saw the solemn look on Thompsons face.

Sorry if this wasn't threadworthy, I'm surprised no one is talking about it.

 

[scotsman13]

i wish i had stayed up to watch it but there was that little thing with work in 6 hours

 

[reader]

i wish i had stayed up to watch it but there was that little thing with work in 6 hours

You can watch it on NBA.com - select the TNT Overtime section and it is in the Thursday TNT Replay. It is the entire show. You can listen to Charles talk up the Spurs and Clippers, a good time all around.

You can even watch the TNT half time show from the Spurs game, if you wish to punish yourself.

As I do have TNT, I miss all the games on Thursdays, but I am able to watch the chat show with Charles and the boys.

 

[MastersofCombat]

Yeah I was a HUGE Penny fan at memphis and thought he was gonna be incredible NBA player.
Its too bad he couldnt make it work calls Phoenix home.

 

[Folster]

I almost feel sorry for the guy. Seeing highlights of his days in Orlando made me remember how great he was. If he wasn't injury prone he could have went down as one of the greats along with Grant Hill. But then again he got to play basketball for a living and made tons of money doing it. He hasn't had it too rough.

 

[myrondizzo]

I almost feel sorry for the guy. Seeing highlights of his days in Orlando made me remember how great he was. If he wasn't injury prone he could have went down as one of the greats along with Grant Hill. But then again he got to play basketball for a living and made tons of money doing it. He hasn't had it too rough.

or not play basketball for a living.

 

[goldseraph]

I think Penny could still be a decent backup G if he's anywhere near healthy.

 

[baltimorer]

Did anyone catch this interview after the game. It was priceless. With a stone cold serious face, John Thompson said, "I think your career is over." He also asked Penny if he was a hypochondriac. Penny thought it was a joke until he saw the solemn look on Thompsons face.

Sorry if this wasn't threadworthy, I'm surprised no one is talking about it.

I don't think it was priceless. Well, I guess it depends what you mean by priceless. If you like to look at a guy and see pain in his eyes to the point where they have to stop and edit an interview to not let the public see that the guy has his head in his hands and keep speak, then yeah, it was pretty priceless. For some people, there's nothing better than seeing a wealthy, young guy in emotional pain.

Otherwise, I thought it was a good interview because it shows that he has absolutely no reason to be working out the way he is. Penny can easily be out of the NBA. His career, as John Thompson put it, could be over, and there are a lot of people who believe that. If he wasn't working his butt off twice a day in Houston right now, he could be home right now, collecting the last few checks from his $87 million contract, calling it a career. He could easily be sitting in front of his big screen, watching other guys play basketball for a living, saying to himself, "Look at those guys, working so hard, and they'll never make the kind of money I'm making just sitting on my couch!"

But he's not. He benefits nothing - absolutely nothing - from training right now. Even if he signs with a team next season, he'll make around the veteran minimum, which is peanuts to a guy with his money (he was Nike's go-to-guy, to add that onto his bball contract). He's a 34-year old, over-the-hill has-been who everybody loves to beat on. He's heard the terms "soft" and "faking the injury" and "taking the money and run" so many times that part of him doesn't even listen and part of him wants to cry.

And if that can make you smile, then more power to ya. But I thought it was a good interview for other reasons.

 

[elindholm]

He benefits nothing - absolutely nothing - from training right now.

That's odd. Most people think that there are clear benefits to staying in shape even if it won't make you millions of dollars richer.

The contempt for Hardaway isn't because he was soft or faking it. Most people know his injuries were legitimate. Hardaway's downfall, in the eyes of the public, came from his dishonesty about his injuries, his inability to come to terms with his reduced skills, and his general selfishness and immaturity.

I didn't see the interview. In general, however, our society takes satisfaction in watching those who have caused so much pain, to so many, for so long, finally get a bit of their just desserts. If you're too noble to appreciate the moral score-settling of that, then more power to ya.

 

[boisesuns]

Is there a link to the video?

 

[baltimorer]

He benefits nothing - absolutely nothing - from training right now.

That's odd. Most people think that there are clear benefits to staying in shape even if it won't make you millions of dollars richer.

The contempt for Hardaway isn't because he was soft or faking it. Most people know his injuries were legitimate. Hardaway's downfall, in the eyes of the public, came from his dishonesty about his injuries, his inability to come to terms with his reduced skills, and his general selfishness and immaturity.

I didn't see the interview. In general, however, our society takes satisfaction in watching those who have caused so much pain, to so many, for so long, finally get a bit of their just desserts. If you're too noble to appreciate the moral score-settling of that, then more power to ya.

Oh, so he's working out twice a day, once with John Lucas, doing shooting, ball-handling, and basketball conditioning drills to keep his cholesteral down so he'll die when he's 90 and not 85? That makes sense.

He caused pain to people? Who? I read about that charity event that he did last Christmas when he had all of those kids over his house and gave them presents and stuff, and I saw the money that he donated to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Possibly they edited out the part in "Penny Hardaway's 12th annual Christmas party" when he started punching 8 year old kids. Is that the pain you are talking about?

It's not "being noble" when you'd rather see somebody happy than in pain. I'm not saying Penny hasn't made mistakes in his career, but that could be said for most players in this league, or for most people in their lives. For instance, if you were an NBA all-star and you said that you like to see people sad, the media would jump all over you. It may make sense to most people, and you obviously didn't mean that you just like to see people in pain, but things are taken out of context.

 

[boisesuns]

I wish the best for Penny. As far as playing, he's probably done. His knees were questonable when he came to Phoenix, and he hasn't been the same since he left. His training is most likley another attempt to try and make his knees work, but I think they are done.

 

[3rdside]

If you're too noble to accept the moral score-settling of that, then more power to ya

You are such a bitch e..

 

[George O'Brien]

The contempt for Hardaway isn't because he was soft or faking it. Most people know his injuries were legitimate. Hardaway's downfall, in the eyes of the public, came from his dishonesty about his injuries, his inability to come to terms with his reduced skills, and his general selfishness and immaturity.

There are veterans who are considered great locker room guys who last beyond what they can do on the court. Scott Williams is a great example. He was traded because he asked to be traded, not because his skills were reduced.

Somehow Penny seemed incapable of playing that kind of role. He was reputed to having played head games on JJ to the point where his confidence was a wreak. As soon as Penny left, JJ's career turned around and he began the path gaining a max contract. I don't know how much harm Penny did, but he sure didn't help.

 

[baltimorer]

There are veterans who are considered great locker room guys who last beyond what they can do on the court. Scott Williams is a great example. He was traded because he asked to be traded, not because his skills were reduced.

Somehow Penny seemed incapable of playing that kind of role. He was reputed to having played head games on JJ to the point where his confidence was a wreak. As soon as Penny left, JJ's career turned around and he began the path gaining a max contract. I don't know how much harm Penny did, but he sure didn't help.

Um, JJ's best friend on the team was Penny. Even after Penny got traded to New York, he still played NBA Live via the internet with JJ... Maybe when JJ took a shot with Barbosa in Live, Penny would say, "Barbosa can't hit that!" and then JJ would have Penny's voice in his head when he played inconsistently for the first 3 years of his career in Phoenix?

Rediculous, warrantless observations aside, wouldn't you say that JJ's improved play and "path (to) gaining a max contract" had more to do with Marbury's departure than to Penny outplaying him enough for Frank Johnson to consider keeping Penny ahead of JJ in the rotation?

Anyway, that's not really the point. Let's say you forget the fact that Penny's body is in the shape that it is now in large part because, in the 2000 playoffs, he led this team past the first round on a knee he injured in the San Antonio series. Let's say you can't remember when he jumped into Samake Walker in game 2 of the playoffs and played another 6 games getting cortisone shots in his knee during every pre-game and halftime when Jason Kidd and Tom Gugliota were nursing their own injuries. I don't even see a reason to talk about the fact that the Suns gave Penny 6 weeks to recover from a surgery that everyone on these boards thinks might keep Amare Stoudemire out the entire season, and let's not focus at all on the 4 games in January of 2001-2002 that Penny limped through, even though he should have been encouraged by Suns' doctors and management to rehab for at least another 3 months. All of that aside, I honestly can't see a reason to watch that John Thompson interview and at least be somewhat pulling for Penny. That's all I'm saying.

 

[George O'Brien]

D'Antoni was coach for about a month prior to the trade and JJ's numbers did not show any improvement until after Penny and Marbury left.

I'll admit I think Marbury was a problem, but I think you are underestimating the subtle ways that a "friend" can undercut a player's confidence. The brutal truth was that Penny wanted to start and his video game buddy was challenging him for that role.

 

[PetryJr]

therealhardaway is officially back.

 

[elindholm]

therealhardaway is officially back.

If only. The reality is that there are legions of Hardaway-obsessed fans out there, and they all share many of the same delusional, self-righteous qualities. In terms of personality, they are quite similar to the player himself.

The notion that Hardaway is crippled because the Suns pressured him to come back too soon goes very deep into the realm of the absurd. However, it is true that he played very well in the 2000 playoff series against the Spurs.

 

[baltimorer]

therealhardaway is officially back.

If only. The reality is that there are legions of Hardaway-obsessed fans out there, and they all share many of the same delusional, self-righteous qualities. In terms of personality, they are quite similar to the player himself.

The notion that Hardaway is crippled because the Suns pressured him to come back too soon goes very deep into the realm of the absurd. However, it is true that he played very well in the 2000 playoff series against the Spurs.

No I didn't want to say that the Suns pressured him to return too soon. Although you have to admit that it's odd that Penny came back in late January from Microfracture surgery. Why didn't the Suns make it perfectly clear that the fans should expect him out for possibly the entire season, the way they are now with Amare, considering Penny's injury was supposedly more severe than Amare's? You have to admit that the Suns made a mistake in dealing with that, and it added more pressure on Penny to come back before he was healthy.

And I'm not one of those obsessed Penny Hardaway fans, I just have a different recollection of his time with the Suns. Anyway, blaming Joe Johnson's crappy play on Penny is pretty absurd. He played inconsistently when Penny was out for a couple months with a thumb injury, he played inconsistently when Penny was starting, and he played inconsistently when he was starting. Come to think of it, there were a few games that Casey Jacobsen started, and he played inconsistently in his time then too. I'd be willing to see Marbury's influence as a steady factor there, but that's about it. Obviously, Penny wanted to start - he made no secret of that fact - but that's as natural as Joe Johnson's desires to start at the 2 as well. You really can't blame Joe Johnson's inability to wrestle a secure spot in the rotation from a 31 year old with 5 major knee surgery's or a 21 year old sharp-shooter who can't shoot, on Anfernee Hardaway.

 

[elindholm]

Why didn't the Suns make it perfectly clear that the fans should expect him out for possibly the entire season, the way they are now with Amare, considering Penny's injury was supposedly more severe than Amare's?

Beats me. Maybe microfracture wasn't as well understood then? In any case, I disagree that the Suns added pressure on Hardaway to come back too soon. If he did come back too soon, it was because he wasn't honest with the organization or himself about how he was really feeling.

Anyway, blaming Joe Johnson's crappy play on Penny is pretty absurd.

I agree, and I never made that argument. I always felt that if Johnson couldn't earn the position, that was his problem.