Penny Hardaway is planning to spend his brief holiday break watching basketball.
College basketball games, that is. Specifically, the eighth-year Memphis coach will try to watch 50 of them, he said during his weekly radio show Dec. 15.
Surely, the former NBA All-Star will make time to squeeze in a few pro games while his Tigers enjoy a gap in their schedule from Dec. 22 to Dec. 31, right?
Not necessarily. Hardaway isn’t exactly a fan of the NBA these days.
“It’s just not fun to watch anymore,” said Hardaway, who spent 14 years in the league, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting in 1994 and third in the MVP race in 1996.
“It’s like, over the years, to me, it’s just getting worse and worse. Not in a bad way. But for me to watch, because I’m in college, I see the fundamentals and playing team ball,” he said. “And just shooting all the 3’s now is just a little irritating to me to just watch an NBA game. No one shoots layups anymore. It’s fun to watch for fans.
“But for guys that were pure in the game, it’s a little difficult.”
Hardaway hasn’t sworn off watching the NBA completely. His favorite team?
“I do love watching (the Oklahoma City Thunder), not because they’re the best team in the NBA, but they play the game the right way,” he said. “(And the) Celtics, they play the game the right way. And I still enjoy watching the Grizzlies. I still like watching to see how they’re progressing. The Knicks, watching Jalen Brunson. I watch Minnesota with Anthony Edwards.”
Hardaway acknowledged the seismic shifts across the college basketball landscape in recent years, which include looser transfer restrictions and the advent of name, image and likeness (NIL).
“But I’ll take that style over the NBA,” he said.
Hardaway is 159-73 overall as Memphis coach. He has led the Tigers to three NCAA tournament appearances, advancing as far as the Round of 32 in 2022.
Memphis (4-5), which has struggled this season, will host No. 11 Vanderbilt (10-0) on Dec. 17 (6 p.m. CT, ESPN2) at FedExForum.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at [email protected], follow him @munzly on X.
