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A Penny for his thoughts Hardaway's comeback quiet next to Jordan decision buzz
It's a hot sunny afternoon in Chicago, and the pickup games at Michael Jordan's Comeback Camp have ended for the day. In the parking lot at Hoops the Gym, on the city's West Side, a small group of fans and media members have congregated near Jordan's silver Porsche. They're waiting for a word or a glimpse of His Airness on his way home. Not far away, Suns guard Penny Hardaway emerges from the front door of the complex into the late afternoon glare. Wearing a T-shirt, shorts and gym shoes, he stops to sign an autograph, chats with some of the other players standing around, then hops into a white Buick Le Sabre with three pals. No press conference. No TV interviews. Just another day at the office. Hardaway is the "other" comeback story in Chicago this summer. While the hoops world breathlessly awaits Jordan's decision whether or not to return to the NBA, the four-time All-Star and former Olympian goes about his own comeback attempt quietly and with little fanfare. "I feel great," says Hardaway, who has been plagued by a series of leg and knee injuries since the 1996-97 season. "I can't wait for the season to start." Hardaway appears fully recovered from his latest injury, a bum left knee that kept him out all but four games last season. At the L.A. Summer League, he averaged nearly a triple-double while leading his team to the championship. He has continued his impressive play at the Jordan Camp, according to observers, and has been working out five days a week with MJ's personal trainer, Tim Grover. "The only thing that hasn't come around like I wanted is the vertical leap," he says. "I'm not dunking the ball like I was dunking it before having the knee surgery. But I'm sure it will come as the year goes on." Hardaway is confident he can regain the form he showed in the 2000 playoffs, when he carried the Suns to a first-round triumph over the Spurs. He wound up averaging 20.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists despite suffering torn cartilage in the knee the next round against the Lakers. "Those playoffs showed I could still be dominant," he says. "I really feel that way, offensively. Nobody in the league can stop me." Hardaway, who turned 30 over the summer, is aware there are skeptics who say his knee won't hold up and that he'll never again be the same player who once drew comparisons to Magic Johnson. When asked what is motivating him on his current comeback regimen, his reply is simple: "To be the best again," he says. "If I never got hurt, I'd probably have been first-team all-NBA for the last three-four years. Once I got hurt it's like I fell off the face of the earth." That's the reason he played in two L.A. summer leagues last June, sometimes going 40-plus minutes in back-to-back games. It's why he agreed to come to Chicago for Jordan's camp. When talk turns to the elite players in the game, Hardaway wants to hear his name mentioned again along with the young guns like Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady. "I want to get back to that first-team All-NBA, All-Star level ,and be respected for that," he says. "That's what pushes me every day, and I've been working hard for it. I want to be in the All-Star Game. I want to be Comeback Player of the Year. I want all those things that happened to me and I know I can do it." Comeback Player of the Year? Hardaway might not want to tell the guy in the silver Porsche. Marty Burns covers pro basketball for CNNSI.com. Click here to send Marty a question or comment.
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