ORLANDO, Fla. — Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway has reportedly emerged as the Orlando Magic’s lead candidate to fill their head coaching vacancy, contradicting previous thoughts that the team would not likely hire a coach without prior NBA head-coaching experience.
Hardaway, who is currently the head coach at the University of Memphis, his alma mater, reportedly interviewed with the Magic this past week. The Athletic’s Shams Charania first reported Hardaway’s status as a Magic candidate, citing NBA sources.
In his June 5 press conference on the departure of Steve Clifford as Magic head coach, Jeff Weltman, the team’s president of basketball operations, talked about the importance of the next coach having head-coaching experience but did not slam the door on those who did not have such experience.
“It’s an important component, for sure, and if you are going to hire someone without that experience, there have to be other strengths that you’re saying, ‘Well, we’re trusting that this will develop because we’ve seen X, Y, Z,” Weltman said. “As you lay it all out, not everybody is going to have everything.
“So, it’s really, and I always come back to this, it’s the person, it’s the fit, it’s the connection and that’s largely what defines a good coach, the ability to connect with the players. For sure, it’s something we’ll be weighing and considering, but that’s not, by a longshot, to say that we won’t hire someone without that experience.”
The 49-year-old Hardaway played for the Magic — who selected him with the No. 3 pick of the 1993 NBA Draft out of Memphis — from 1993-1999. He still holds the team record for steals in a season with 190 during his rookie year.
Earlier this year, Hardaway — who coaches his son, Jaden Hardaway, a redshirt junior with the Tigers — signed a contract extension that stretches through the 2025-26 season and will pay him just over $12 million over five years. Memphis is coming off an NIT championship and Hardaway’s record since taking over the team in 2018 is 63-32. He has yet to coach his team into the NCAA Tournament.
The Magic have also interviewed San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon, the NBA’s first female coach. Orlando is apparently awaiting fallout from the losing team in the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals between the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks. Should Milwaukee fall short of making the NBA Finals once again, it is thought the Bucks may part ways with head coach Mike Budenholzer.
That could make Budenholzer a top candidate possibility.
A lot seems to have changed since the Magic parted ways with Clifford. On the day the coaching change was announced, Weltman somewhat downplayed the thought that Hardaway would be a likely candidate for the job.
“I don’t know Penny. I know that, obviously, he’s been a superstar NBA player and he’s part of the Orlando Magic fabric, so obviously we regard him with great respect,” Weltman said June 5. “I think he’s shown to be a talented coach early on in his coaching career, but beyond that, I will not get into discussing names or specifics as we go forward ... I will not confirm or deny coaching candidates we are involved with.”
When Hardaway was approached about the job a few days after the Clifford news, he also downplayed the chance he might leave Memphis.
“I’m flattered by it because people are even mentioning my name, obviously because of the relationship I’ve had with the Magic over the years,” Hardaway said. “It’s weird because the timing on it is, I’m now just starting to get into my own as Tigers coach and understand everything that comes along with this and then all of a sudden the Magic job, the people start talking about the Magic job.
“So it’s weird, but my heart is in Memphis. I don’t know what happens in the future. If I did coach in the NBA, that would be a place I would want to coach so, we’ll see.”
As Hardaway said, we shall see.
