Penny Hardaway

Hardaway's nickname 'Penny' originated from his grandmother's Memphis pronunciation of 'Pretty' — a name that became one of the most recognizable in basketball history and was later immortalized by a Nike shoe line that included a puppet alter-ego named 'Lil' Penny.'

The Lil' Penny puppet — a wise-cracking miniature version of Hardaway voiced by Chris Rock — became one of the most beloved Nike advertising characters of the 1990s and helped establish Penny as a global marketing figure beyond basketball.

He and Shaquille O'Neal were 21 and 20 years old respectively when they formed their partnership in Orlando — two of the youngest superstar partners in NBA history, which makes the what-if of an uninjured Hardaway career particularly poignant.

Hardaway returned to Memphis as head coach of his hometown university in 2018, recruiting elite talent back to the city and program that developed him, completing one of basketball's most satisfying hometown arcs.